The Ecker reservoir

After the Söse and Oder dams the Ecker dam was the third to be erected in a series of modern dams in the western Harz. It serves for drinking water, flood control and power generation. The reservoir flooded a part of the valley that was carved out in the shape of a basin by an ice age glacier. Its source area receives almost 1,400 mm of yearly rainfall. Hence, the Ecker reservoir receives the highest amount of rainfall runoff of all Harz dams. The Ecker reservoir was planned to cope with the region's increasing demand for drinking water. This rose notably in the 1930s, due to the scheduled development of the town of Wolfsburg and the growing population of the city of Brunswick. The dam was constructed between 1940 and 1942 in the midst of the Second World War. Several hundreds of foreign workers and prisoners of war were employed in these works. After the Second World War, the reservoir was dissected by the border that divided Germany. This caused serious problems in the management of the dam, as the operating staff of the Harzwasserwerke was not allowed to cross the border at first. Only after protracted negotiations agreement was reached in 1978 and the regular operation of the dam was made possible. Today, the reservoir provides drinking water to the towns of Brunswick, Wolfenbüttel and Wolfsburg. With a pH-value of 5, the water of the Ecker is comparatively acidic, due to the humic acid brought in by its tributaries from the moors.