Roer River
| Rur | |
|---|---|
.JPG)
The Rur in Monschau
|
|
| Country | Germany, Netherlands, Belgium |
| Basin features | |
| Main source |
Hautes Fagnes 660 m (2,170 ft) |
| River mouth |
Meuse River 17 m (56 ft) 51°11′52″N 5°58′52″E / 51.19778°N 5.98111°ECoordinates: 51°11′52″N 5°58′52″E / 51.19778°N 5.98111°E |
| Basin size | 2,340 km2 (900 sq mi) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | ≈170 km (110 mi) |
The Rur river (German; in Dutch and French: Roer river) is a major river which flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse River. About 90 percent of the river's course is in Germany.
It is not to be confused with the Ruhr and Röhr rivers, tributaries of the Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Rur rises in the Hautes Fagnes/Hohes Venn National Park, near the 696-metre (2,283 ft) tall Signal de Botrange in Belgium at an elevation of 660 metres (2,170 ft) above sea level. South of Monschau it flows into Germany, through North Rhine-Westphalia. It flows first through the northern part of the Eifel hills.
After 39 kilometres (24 mi) it reaches the Rurstausee, the second-largest artificial lake in Germany. After approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) it flows into the Netherlands, and at its 170-kilometre (110 mi) mark it flows into the river Meuse at the city of Roermond.
Major tributaries of the river Rur include the Inde and the Wurm. Cities along the Rur are Monschau, Heimbach, Nideggen, Düren, Jülich, Linnich, Hückelhoven, Heinsberg (all in Germany) and Roermond (Netherlands).
In the 1960s and 1970s, the northern part of the Rur was heavily polluted by the tailings of many German coal mines. Neither fish nor other organisms could be found, and it was dangerous to swim in the river. Foam flakes regularly flooded parts of the city of Roermond. After the closure of the mines, the waste water treatment in Germany and the Netherlands greatly improved. Only the lower part of the river is still contaminated. The water in the upper part of the river is so clean that trout and more than 30 species of fish are back. After an absence of 125 years, salmon returned to the Rur in 2004.
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Wikipedia