Jura water correction

It has also added vast areas of valuable agricultural land through the drying out and subsequent sanitization and improvement of the swamps which used to lie between these three lakes.

The area affected by the correction extends for about 100 km between La Sarraz and Luterbach, currently impacting the cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchatel, Solothurn, Berne and Jura.

[5] Archaeological research has shown that since the Bronze Age, the level of the three lakes and rivers rose several meters, and was already a threat to the population in 1500.

From the second half of the 16th century, when the first complaints are recorded, the loss of crops and the high risk of epidemics of malaria caused people to abandon their villages.

It is significant that the first proponent of the correction of the Jura Waters was Johann Rudolf Schneider, a doctor of medicine by profession.

In 1707, a map of the river Thielle from Lake Biel to its junction with the Aare was compiled and drawn by Samuel Bodmer, a lieutenant of artillery and Bernese Surveyor.

In 1749, first officer Antoni Benjamin Tillier, hired by the federal government to deal with the management of rivers, started deepening the bed of the Thielle from Nidau to Brügg by excavation.

[4]: 106 It called for the implementation of various works, namely His final project, which was to be implemented as the "First correction", was submitted to the authorities in 1852: the various operations were classified into three categories:[4]: 107 A federal decree, issued in 1857, ordered Richard La Nicca's project to be carried out as a common undertaking between the Confederation and the cantons of Vaud, Neuchatel, Friburg, Berne and Solothurn.

Heavier works (categories 2 and 3) were not yet feasible because of a lack of funding, political vision and technical expertise This decision was accompanied by a credit of five million francs to complete the first stage.

However the authorities finally selected Richard and Nicci William Fraisse to supervise all work sites and report to the policy makers.

Hence, the Bernese correction had to begin with the digging of a canal out of Lake Biel in Nidau, down to the city of Büren-an-der-Aare, with a minimal outflow capacity in accordance with the 290% estimate.

Both canals represent an enlargement and correction of the course of the previous rivers, leading to the removal of meanders and equalizing the levels of the three lakes.

The median level of the three connected lakes has fallen by approximately 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) and they have become a unique reservoir operating on the principle of compensating bodies of water.

In Nidau, a monument was inaugurated in 1908 in honour of Johann Rudolf Schneider and Richard La Nicca with the inscription "To those who saved its great distress, in recognition: Seeland."

Fortunately, upon proper reinstatement and management of the flat land between the three lakes over some decades, the whole former swamp has become a vast fertile area.

During the first correction, a temporary dam had been built across the Nidau-Büren Canal in order to maintain the water level in Lake Bienne.

The Broye, Thielle and Nidau-Büren Canals were widened and deepened; their banks were also re-designed in order to prevent damage in case of flooding.