DOI Artikel:
Michelsen, Peter: Irrigation in the Alps
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49002#0169
IRRIGATION IN THE ALPS
By
Peter Michelsen
Recent studies on irrigation have been main-
ly concerned with the social aspects, except
for those dealing with technical matters.
This is due to the large-scale nature of the
installations, which involve not only a com-
plicated division of the water but also par-
ticular forms of organisation. The aim here,
however, is to discuss a simple irrigation
technique practised by farmers in the Cen-
tral European Alps, using data from places
where old methods survived after 1950.
Tools and methods will be treated, but not
organisational, economic or legal aspects.
This specialised agricultural activity has its
own kind of interest for cultural history,
geography and ethnology.
Most irrigation studies relate to arid or
semi-arid zones, which for Europe are the
Mediterranean countries. Yet even in appar-
ently rainy areas like the Alps, sheltered val-
leys may not always get enough rain. In
many parts of Europe, meadows were irri-
gated even where there was rain in plenty,
for specific reasons such as the need to water
at exactly the right time. It was widely
thought that this advanced aeration of the
roots, and led to selection within the plant
community and a bigger harvest of grass for
hay.
Austria.: Otztal, Tyrol
The narrow Otztal valley runs south to
north through the northern part of the Cen-
tral Alps, separating the massifs of the Otz-
taler and Stubaier Alps. It is drained by the
River Ache, which runs out at the northern
end to meet the River Inn. Where the valley
broadens out in places, there are villages like
Solden, where irrigation methods were ob-
served in 1953 (Michelsen 1955).
All water for irrigation came from above,
from streams on the valley slopes, with no
need for lifting devices (fig. 1). A surface
channel could lead water from a point in the
stream where a natural small basin ensured a
reasonably steady supply. Stones might be
used to make a small dam. A piece of wood
could help to direct the flow. At the end of
the channel there were usually stones to reg-
ulate the amount of water running into the
furrow, or to close it off altogether.
Another means of drawing water was to
insert the end of a wooden trough or open-
topped pipe into the stream (fig. 2). In this
case, it was necessary to regulate the water
with stones. If the stream was carrying sedi-
ment, this could settle in the pipes. Accord-
ingly, this was allowed to settle in a small,
artificial basin before the water continued
along the pipe. Such basins were seen on the
biggest stream in Solden, the Rettenbach,
flowing from a mountain glacier; older ones
were of logs interlocked at the corners, and
newer ones are of concrete (fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Solden in Otztal. Timber basin for letting
sand transported by the water settle. Photo P.M.
1953.
Solden im Otztal. Bassin aus Holzstammen, in
dem sich vom Wasser mitgefuhrter Sand absetzt.
By
Peter Michelsen
Recent studies on irrigation have been main-
ly concerned with the social aspects, except
for those dealing with technical matters.
This is due to the large-scale nature of the
installations, which involve not only a com-
plicated division of the water but also par-
ticular forms of organisation. The aim here,
however, is to discuss a simple irrigation
technique practised by farmers in the Cen-
tral European Alps, using data from places
where old methods survived after 1950.
Tools and methods will be treated, but not
organisational, economic or legal aspects.
This specialised agricultural activity has its
own kind of interest for cultural history,
geography and ethnology.
Most irrigation studies relate to arid or
semi-arid zones, which for Europe are the
Mediterranean countries. Yet even in appar-
ently rainy areas like the Alps, sheltered val-
leys may not always get enough rain. In
many parts of Europe, meadows were irri-
gated even where there was rain in plenty,
for specific reasons such as the need to water
at exactly the right time. It was widely
thought that this advanced aeration of the
roots, and led to selection within the plant
community and a bigger harvest of grass for
hay.
Austria.: Otztal, Tyrol
The narrow Otztal valley runs south to
north through the northern part of the Cen-
tral Alps, separating the massifs of the Otz-
taler and Stubaier Alps. It is drained by the
River Ache, which runs out at the northern
end to meet the River Inn. Where the valley
broadens out in places, there are villages like
Solden, where irrigation methods were ob-
served in 1953 (Michelsen 1955).
All water for irrigation came from above,
from streams on the valley slopes, with no
need for lifting devices (fig. 1). A surface
channel could lead water from a point in the
stream where a natural small basin ensured a
reasonably steady supply. Stones might be
used to make a small dam. A piece of wood
could help to direct the flow. At the end of
the channel there were usually stones to reg-
ulate the amount of water running into the
furrow, or to close it off altogether.
Another means of drawing water was to
insert the end of a wooden trough or open-
topped pipe into the stream (fig. 2). In this
case, it was necessary to regulate the water
with stones. If the stream was carrying sedi-
ment, this could settle in the pipes. Accord-
ingly, this was allowed to settle in a small,
artificial basin before the water continued
along the pipe. Such basins were seen on the
biggest stream in Solden, the Rettenbach,
flowing from a mountain glacier; older ones
were of logs interlocked at the corners, and
newer ones are of concrete (fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Solden in Otztal. Timber basin for letting
sand transported by the water settle. Photo P.M.
1953.
Solden im Otztal. Bassin aus Holzstammen, in
dem sich vom Wasser mitgefuhrter Sand absetzt.