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Lake Davos

Helpful facts

The lake was formed by a landslide from the Totalp in the Parsenn area, which dammed the waters of today's upper Landwasser area, which until then had flowed off in the direction of Prättigau. The water, however, did not subsequently overflow and cut the landslide mass as it did, for example, at the Ruinaulta, but was able to flow off on the slightly lower opposite side of the valley and has been eating its way further into the rocks of the Zügen Gorge ever since.Lake Davos is the remnant of this lake, which once encompassed the whole of today's low gradient high valley and was later essentially filled in by the bed load of the Flüelabach and Dischmabach. On the other hand, the growing alluvial fan of the Flüelabach gradually increased the elevation of the lake outlet towards the land water, which counteracted the ongoing reduction of the lake area by sedimentation. Lake Davos receives its water not only from inflowing streams such as the Totalpbach, but also via groundwater inflows from the alluvial fan of the Flüelabach. Due to hydraulic engineering measures for energy production, this situation has changed considerably today.

The lake in winter with dwindling water for the power plant

From time immemorial, the lake contributed to the regulation of the runoff, which could be important in the winter months when runoff was low. Until the 1920s, Lake Davos was used year-round for tourism and economic purposes. In winter, it was traveled by horse-drawn sleighs and was also used for a long time to extract ice, which was transported by rail to the rest of Switzerland in winter.

Since the commissioning of the pressure tunnel to the Klosters power station in 1922, the lake has been used for the production of electricity. In order to ensure steady operation, part of the Flüela stream is diverted underground into the lake during low flow winter months. Nevertheless, more water flows into Klosters for electricity generation than the surrounding streams feed in, so that during the cold season the lake basin largely dries up and can no longer be used for other purposes.



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