In Asa we have now finished the building of the dam wall in the inlet to Feresjön. It was not easy! First the construction was stopped by the winter and later the spring flood, but as you can see on the picture it is now ready for use and we have started measuring. The critical reader might say that the construction looks somewhat crooked or even unstable, but that is what you get when you build directly on top of the granite of Småland, and we promise that it is both very stable and waterproof.

Since the dam is located on private land we first did not know of its existence. Its location is a place with local history. The whole dam construction was built to run a sawmill many years ago. The only thing missing was the construction to control the water flow; a construction that was located on the exact same spot where we now have our v-notch weir. Also, the new wall is fixed to an oak beam from the original construction that is still in the water. The foundation of the sawmill is still to be found close to the dam (picture below), and according to the owner of the forest there are also still old iron rails which was used to transport the timber down to Asa. Unfortunately we have not found them, yet.

Text and photos by Niels Aagaard Jakobsen

More informaiton about SITES Water can be found here

Are you hiking in Abisko this summer, then you can take part in a citizen science project that will track plant phenology along an alpine hillslope of Nuolja. One hundred years ago pioneering botanist Thore C. E. Fries walked in the same area recording the date of snowmelt and tracked the phenology of 150 species of plants. There is still a lot snow on the slope but it is melting fast and many plants have started to develop their leaves.
 
Come join us for the inauguration of the trail and the new citizen science app on 27-28 June. Even if you cannot make it then you can participate anytime this summer!

Link to press invite.