Pressegger See

General Description

Belongs to the warmest lakes of Carinthia. It is a popular destination for excursions. The region Hermagor Pressegger See houses numerous bathing guests in summer.
 
Fed by the wells at the bottom of the lake. The lake has 55 ha and is situated in a side canyon of the Gailtal, only a few km in the east of Hermagor. It is a vestige of a former much larger after- ice- age lake. Its depth is between 4 and 6 m, in some well craters even 13 m. These craters are formed by the wells, which are so strong that the uprising water prevents a deposition of mud. The origin of the wells is connected with the lime-gravel-cones that reach from the bottom of the Vellacher Egel into the lake. The gravel cones cover a relatively compact, only little permeable Ice -Age ground- moraine at the bottom of the valley. From the top this gravel material is covered by clay-deposits. The mountain waters are stored in between these two not permeable layers and so rise up as wells and form those cones.
In addition to that the lake is fed by a surface inflow, the Vellacher Bach, which in connection with the wells at the bottom of the lake causes a rather strong flowing through. The time for the water renewal is only about 2 weeks. 


Paradise for divers. Because of the little depth and the clear water the light- conditions at the bottom are sufficient to let grow a dense carpet of vegetation like TAUSENDBLATT, spawn herbs and chandelier algae. The quick water renewal prevents a stronger development of floating algae.
Here you can find the most extensive reed belts of Carinthia. While they had to give way to the bathing beaches and the culture-land on the north and south shores, they have richly grown on the western and eastern zones and formed a large, highly growing belt.

Nature and landscape protection area. Around the Pressegger See there is a 416 ha landscape protection area (LGBl, 89/19780 and 62/ 1982).

Tourism

Events and sensational projects. The region around the lake offers a lot of events for natives and guests. The Gailtaler Speckfest (bacon festival) meanwhile is an established event in the Gailtal. It is organized in the end of May in Hermagor.

On the way on foot or by bike. Ambitious bikers get value for their money when going around the lake. They find frontier crossing mountain-bike routes in the Karnischen Alpen that are directly leading along the Italian border, inviting for extensive bike tours. The mountain range of the Karnischen Alpen also attracts hikers. Along the Karnischen Höhenwanderweg they can enjoy impressing views over the country.

Endemic species. A further speciality can be admired in this region. It is the Wulfenia (Wulfenia carinthiaca) with its blue blossoms. This species can only be found on the Sonnenalpe on the Naßfeld. Sub species exist in the Himalaya region and in Albany.

Fish Stock

There are 12 different species of fish (LINDERMUTH, oral information):

Pike (Esox lucius)
Bass (Perca fluviatilis)
Catfish (Silurus glanis)
Chub (Leuciscus cephalus)
Bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus amarus)
Bream (Abramis brama)
Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Bleak (Alburnus alburnus)
Roach (Rutilus rutilus)
Common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)
Tench (Tinca tinca)
Pike-perch (Sander lucioperca)

Used for fishing. The stocked carp, tench, pike and partly very large catfish are used for angling. In former times they also stocked some grass carp.
Natural left runoff. Carp, roach, chub and catfish form the population in the runoff. Above all the good stock of catfish must be emphasized. In the lower parts of the runoff you can find burbot and dace. They cannot be found in the lake. In the runoff average fish bio mass between 997 and 1.395 kg/ ha or average individual density between 7.199 and 17.386 individuals/ha could be stated (FRIEDL, 1998). This enormously high fish population has its reason in the natural character of this river.

Fishing Permits

Ernst Lindermuth, 9620 Hermagor, Presseggersee 1, phone: 04282/3880 or 3705

Valentin Pipp, 9615 Görtschach 1, phone: 04283/2836

Occurence of Crayfish

High crayfish population. Since ever this lake and its runoff were known for their high crayfish population. In 1930 the crayfish plague was dragged into the lake. It destroyed all the population within a year. But 2 years later they stocked Astacus astacus from Slovenia again.

Remedial Actions

Canalization. The building up of a canalization facility was started in 1969. The waste waters of the shore zones together with the settlements now are pumped to a storage channel partly by pressure lines and then disposed along the runoff. In the biological sewage plant of Hermagor the water is cleaned and led into the river Gail.

Catchment Area

Valuation of the ecological status. The catchment area of the lake is the region, out of which the surface- and the underground waters flow into the lake. The borders of this area are formed by the watershed. The cartographic description of these catchment areas referring to the usage is the base for the valuation of the ecological status in regard to the general water instructions (WFD). All the fundamental data are registered in a data bank. With the help of the software Arc View GIS, version 3.2 , the analysis of the geographic information took place. The topographic state, the natural vegetation and the anthropogen usage of the catchment area deliver important information about nutrient- and pollutant burdens.

Vegetation

There are 40 different forms of vegetation.
The descriptions are out of HARTL, STERN u. SEGER, 2001, “The Map of Carinthia`s Current Vegetation”. The geo-referenced data out of this work were blended with the catchment area and transferred into the data bank.
They differentiate 40 forms of vegetation. To have a better view on the results they are comprehended in the following tabulation in these main- groups :
intensively used agricultural areas, farming green-land, forests, surface- waters, built up areas, Alps and others.

Utilization

Utilization

34 forms of utilization in the catchment area. They were geo-referenced and blended with the digital register (DKM) out of 2003.The granted data were transmitted into a data bank and now afford information about the dimensional distribution of the different forms of utilization. The 34 forms of utilization have also been comprehended in the main groups like it has been done for the vegetation groups.