Lake Murten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lake Murten Lac de Morat Murtensee |
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| Coordinates | |
| Primary sources | Broye |
| Primary outflows | Broye canal |
| Catchment area | 693 km² |
| Basin countries | Switzerland |
| Max length | 8.2 km |
| Max width | 2.8 km |
| Surface area | 22.8 km² |
| Max depth | 45 m |
| Water volume | 0.55 km³ |
| Residence time (of lake water) | 1.6 years |
| Surface elevation | 429 m |
| Islands | La Grande Ile (islet) |
| Settlements | Murten |
Lake Murten (German: Murtensee; French: Lac de Morat) is a lake located in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud in the west of Switzerland. It is named after the small town of Murten on its southern shores.
It is the smallest of the three lakes in the Jura region, with Lake Biel and Lake Neuchâtel being the other two. The main tributary is the river Broye. Water leaves the lake through the Broye Canal (Canal de la Broye) which leads into nearby Lake Neuchâtel. Together with the latter, Lake Murten is important to retain water from the river Aar in times of heavy rainfall in the Alps. This helps protecting densely populated areas, such as around the city of Bern. This can lead to the peculiar situation that the water in the lake flows "backwards".
