Fließgewässerkennziffer

The Fließgewässerkennziffer (FGKZ) or "watercourse index number" is an identifier with which all watercourses in Germany are numbered, together with their catchments and precipitation areas. It is also referred to as a Gewässerkennzahl (GWK or GEWKZ) or "waterbody number", although this is a more generic term.

Definition

In order to have comparable values and usable data across the state of Germany, the Federal and State Water Authorities agreed in December 1970 to create a unified system for hydrological work on certain important rivers and their above-ground catchment areas and to issue them with index numbers. Linked to that was the establishment of the size and boundaries of their catchment areas.

Every watercourse (streams, rivers, canals and ditches) and its catchment area was given a waterbody number in such a way that it could be clearly identified. The waterbody numbers are built in hierarchical fashion so that, based on the number, the next river system of the waterbody can be deduced.

The numbers for a watercourse and its catchment area are thus identical. If a river has subsidiary watercourses, an additional figure is allocated to its index number for each further branch. So in theory even a rivulet could be allocated its own catchment. In practice, catchment numbering for water sources below the level of streams are not used.

Catchment areas are thus distinguished by a number with up to a maximum of seven digits. Watercourse index numbers, by contrast, may have up to 13 digits in order to be able to classify all their tributaries and headstreams; although in practice only 10 digits are used. A zero is used to pad out the number where necessary.

Hierarchy of waterbody numbers

The first digit of the number indicates which major river basin the waterbody belongs to, as follows:

The second and subsequent digits of the index number represent further subdivisions of the river and its catchment area.

Example

The Heusiepen stream in Remscheid has waterbody number 27366462. This can be decoded as follows:

Main stem system / catchment Rhine (2)
→ River system / catchment Wupper (2-736)
→ River system / catchment Morsbach (2-736-6)
→ River system / catchment Gelpe (2-736-6-4)
→ River system / catchment Saalbach (2-736-6-4-6)
→ Flusssystem (no catchment area of its own) Heusiepen (2-736-6-4-6-2)

Waterbody index numbers

Listed below are only the rivers with up to a three-figure index number that are at least 50 kilometres long.

1 Danube

Number Name Length
(km)		 Catchment area
(km²)
1 Danube 2857 817,000
112 Lauchert 60.3
114 Iller (including the Breitach - Turabach) 147 2,147
116 Mindel 81 962
118 Wörnitz 132 1,686
12 Lech 264 3,926
126 Wertach 150 1,260
134 Paar 134 1,632
138 Altmühl 234 2,251
14 Naab (including the Waldnaab) 165 5,432
142 Haidenaab 60 714
144 Pfreimd
146 Schwarzach 80 822
148 Vils 78 1,100
1522 Regen 103 2,953
154 Pfatter 37 262
156 Große Laber 75 407
16 Isar 295 8,370
162 Loisach 113 954
164 Amper 168 3,076
174 Vils (including the Großer Vils) 110 1,445
178 Ilz 62 850
18 Inn 517 26,130
182 Mangfall (including the Weißach) 58 1,099
184 Alz (including the Tiroler Achen) 150 2,197
186 Salzach 225 6,700
188 Rott 109 1,205

2 Rhine

Number Name Length
(km)		 Catchment area
(km²)
2 Rhine 1239 185,300
232 Wiese 55 458
234 Kinzig 93 1,406
236 Murg 80 466
238 Neckar 362 13,934
24 Main (including the White Main) 572 27,292
242 Regnitz (including the Rednitz) 162 7,523
244 Franconian Saale 139 2,765
246 Tauber 129 1,810
248 Nidda 90 1,942
252 Selz 61 389
254 Nahe 125 4,067
258 Lahn 246 5,925
26 Moselle 544 28,286
262 Sauer 173 4,259
264 Saar 235 7,431
266 Kyll 142 845
268 Alf 52 358
272 Sieg 155 2,857
274 Erft 107 1,838
276 Ruhr 219 4,485
278 Lippe 220 4,888
28 Meuse 874 33,000
282 Rur 165 2,361
286 Niers 118 1,381

3 Ems

Number Name Length
(km)		 Catchment area
(km²)
3 Ems 371 13,160
32 Werse 67 762
36 Hase 170 3,086

4 Weser

Number Name Length
(km)		 Catchment area
(km²)
4 Weser 451 41,094
41 Werra 300 4,497
42 Fulda 221 6,947
426 Haune 67 500
428 Eder 176 3,361
44 Diemel 111 1,762
452 Nethe 50 460
456 Emmer 62 535
46 Werre 72 1,485
476 Große Aue 85 1,522
48 Aller 260 15,744
482 Oker 128 1,834
484 Fuhse 98 918
488 Leine 281 6,512
496 Hunte 189 2,785

5 Elbe

Number Name Length
(km)		 Catchment area
(km²)
5 Elbe 1094 148,268
5281 Mies 103 1,829
532 Eger 316 5,614
538 Black Elster 179 5,705
54 Mulde 147 7,400
541 Zwickau Mulde 167 2,352
542 Freiberg Mulde 124 2,981
56 Saale 413 23,719
564 Unstrut 192 6,364
566 White Elster 257 5,154
568 Bode 169 3,229
576 Ohre 103 1,503
58 Havel 334 23,858
582 Spree 400 10.100
584 Nuthe 52 1,935
586 Plane 57 639
588 Rhin 129 1,780
592 Elde 208 2,990
594 Ilmenau 107 2,852
598 Oste 153 1,711

6 Oder

Number Name Length
(km)		 Catchment area
(km²)
6 Oder 866 118,861
674 Lusatian Neiße 254 4,297

9 Coastal region

Number Name Length
(km)		 Catchment area
(km²)
928 Issel 82 1,208
952 Eider 188 3,275
962 Trave 114 2,676
964 Warnow 155 3,324
966 Peene 136 5,110
968 Uecker (also Ucker) 98 2,200

Literature

See also

External links

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