Turnersee

General Description

The wind protected position of the lake makes the surface temperature rise up to 25 °C in summer. The excellent water quality attracts numerous guests to the many bathing beaches and landing stages. The belts of reed and underwater vegetation on its shores show a natural impression in spite of the busy bathing use. Nacheiszeitlicher See.

After Ice Age lake. The lake has an area of 44, 15 ha and a depth of 13 m. It is situated in the south of the Klopeiner See in the municipality of St. Kanzian, up on the so called Rückersdorfer Platte, a plateau, 481 m above sea level. Originally the lake was called Sablatnigsee, but in the 20th century, after the Austrian “Turnerbund” had erected their youth camps near the lake, it was named Turnersee. It is the vestige of a large, after Ice Age lake that besides the Turnersee also included the Sablatnig Meadows and might have had an area of about 9 km². The meadows have silted up, only a rest, the Turner See has preserved as a free water surface.

Rare species of birds. In the east a silted up area changes into a flat moor with different species of SEGGEN. In the lime flat moors you can find MEHLPRIMEL, moor willow, FIEBERKLEE, SUMPF-STENDELWURZ. This area is the only natural breeding biotope of the peewit in Carinthia. In these boggy areas you can also see SCHWARZKEHLCHEN and SCHAFSTELZE. The wet regions near the lake are important resting places for the moor birds on their passage. Also water and yellow water lilies can be found here. The lake is the centre of a 240 ha large landscape protection area (LGBl. 53/1970).

Tourism

Bathing and sports. There are 7 bathing beaches around the lake. They are managed by 2 campsites and some hotels. Besides swimming in one of the cleanest lakes of the country the surrounding also attracts visitors with surfing, sailing, tennis, golf and horse- riding. The artistically shaped 18 – holes –golfpark offers the longest time of play in Austria and an overwhelming view of the Hochobir and the Petzen.

Embedded in the mountain world of Carinthia the Turnersee is a popular starting point for wider hiking- or mountain tours. The region offers 170 km of well- kept and marked footpaths across fascinating natural landscapes.

In the Birds` Park Turnersee you can admire up to 1.000 different species of birds. This gigantic number is presented in the largest breeding preserve of Austria. In the nearby patting –zoo children can watch, stroke and feed mini-goats, rabbits, guinea- pigs, ponies and alpacas quite from the near.

Nightlife. St. Kanzian on Klopeiner See is known for its fantastic night life during the summer months.

Kultur- und Lehrpfade Klopeiner See

Fish Stock

There are 10 species of fish:

Pike (Esox lucius)
Bass (Perca fluviatilis)
Catfish (Silurus glanis)
Chub (Leuciscus cephalus)
Bream (Abramis brama)
White bream (Abramis björkna)
Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Roach (Rutilus rutilus)
Common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)
Tench (Tinca tinca)

Variety of fish population. Again and again there are caught carp with weights between 12 and 15 kg. The carp is stocked, but it also propagates naturally. The catfish, getting lengths up to 1, 40 m reproduce naturally, too. The pike population is good, but there are no bleak and pike perch, compared to other similar lake types. There was no stocking of eel and grass carp.

Sports- and hobby anglers find a quiet place for fishing at the protected moor side.

Occurence of Crayfish

Precious crayfish. The lake houses the noble crayfish Astacus astacus.

Remedial Actions

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 antrophogen 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

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.