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By this graph you can see how a flood level develops on the Ager. The Vöckla is the largest tributary to the Ager. It drains an area of about 450 sq. km., and because it lacks sufficient flood basins to spread and hold flood waters, it rises very rapidly. Thus it causes the Ager to rise quickly as well. In order to help slow down the rapid rise, they are also doing restorative work in the city of Vöcklabruck. The Attersee, which functions as the natural flood control basin of the Ager, can hold back part of the water mass, but after a particular height, it too, releases more water into the Ager. Thus the Ager can quickly reach very high water levels which usually recede just as quickly. In longer periods of rain, it can easily be 1 or 2 weeks until the Attersee, and resultantly the Ager, is again at normal levels.

The Dorneter Curve at a water level of 260 cm.

We don’t like to see our Ager like this, but man cannot control nature (Thank God). The water of the Ager is now brown as it rushes through an increasingly wider riverbed. The mouth of the dürre Aurach can no longer be recognized, and the Ager pushes far up into this tiny tributary. In this condition, very tense for the fish, one can see the value of such shelter areas.

The Hessenberger Weir can not even be recognized at a level of 260 cm. The Ager rages over the dam with unbelievable force and roars in a thunderous flood. The white foam sprays high above the waves, and naturally, fishing is impossible. The fish are now close to the banks and are stressed by the brown water. But one must remember that floods belong to the natural cycle of our rivers, changing the course of the river and creating new living space for the inhabitants.