Project Name: Rheinauer See

Country: Germany

Project Manager(s): Fabian Schwarz-Fritz,  Sina A. Weber

Contact: fabian (at) schwarz-fritz (dot) de / sina (dot) weber (at) me (dot) com

Social Media: Facebook Page

Website: Project Baseline Rheinauer See

Rheinauer See is a lake between the two cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in the southwest of Germany. It is shared by water skiers, swimmers, fishermen and divers. Most of the area is surrounded by trees, reed and other vegetation. The area is accessible for pedestrians, visitors, divers and swimmers.

The lake faced many issues before 1999 until the number of divers was regulated. This was a bad development for the lake and now diving is restricted to the summer months (April till 15th December) and 10 divers per hour during daytime only. Since then the water quality got better. We are interested in the current state of the lake and want to monitor whether and how it will change in the future.

Underwater the lake has a few plants and the growth is dependent on the season of the year. Weather and temperatures are influencing visibility. By measuring data underwater in a reproducible way, we want to get a better overview of how the lake changes between the seasons and over years. We hope to see patterns by documenting and analyzing the dive site. The lake has a good stock of fish and a maximum depth of 25 meters.

The lake is very close to the home of many of us. It is close to two larger cities and therefore we are diving there on a regular basis. Many other lakes are in the area, most of them being former gravel mining places like the Rheinauer See. But none of them is so close and convenient to go to. This is our diving backyard.

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