The lake is located southeast of Otterstedt in a depression [1] which is surrounded by a flat wall and is said to have originated around 12,000 years ago, [2] according to legend, by an earthfall. [3] However, science assumes post-glacial education. The lake is believed to be the remnant of a collapsed pingo. [4]
The lake, located in a weekend house area, has belonged to the patch of Ottersberg since 1984. Before that, he was privately owned. [5]
Before the weekend houses at the lake were connected to a sewage system in 1975, the sewage entered the lake, which led to a strong nutrient accumulation. Furthermore, u. a. through agriculture and the woodland surrounding the lake nutrients into the lake. A ring ditch around the lake should minimize the entry of contaminated surface water. Due to the nutrient input, algae carpets appear repeatedly in the polytrophically classified lake. In the early summer of 2002, there was a massive occurrence of blue-green algae, so that the lake had to be renovated. [1] For this purpose, a phosphate binder was introduced into the lake in 2006, but it only inhibited algae growth for a few years. [6]
There are three beach areas on the eastern shore of the lake, which are guarded by the Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft in summer. The DLRG also uses the lake for educational purposes. [7] The direct bank area of the lake is mainly characterized by reed belts.
The lake has a drain to the north to the Dusteniekgraben, the water of which flows into the Wümme north arm via Otterstedter Beeke and Walle west of Ottersberg. It is fed by groundwater