Ise (river)
The Ise is a long, almost natural river of East Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It crosses the district of Gifhorn from north to south and discharges into the Aller at Gifhorn itself. Course The source of the Ise lies at a height of above sea level and its mouth at . Its slope of 0.05% is very gentle. The waters of the Ise flow via the Aller and Weser into the North Sea. The Ise is formed west of Neuekrug in Saxony-Anhalt, immediately on the old Inner German border with Lower Saxony, by the confluence of several small streams. In this Lower Saxony border region the river often runs dry in summer, but below the point where it is joined by the Rade ditch (Graben) its water flow is more consistent. From there the Ise flows by the villages of (a district of Wittingen), (a district of Wittingen), (a district of Obernholz), Hankensbüttel, Alt Isenhagen (a district of Hankensbüttel), (a district of Wittingen), Schönewörde, Wahrenholz, Wagenhoff, Neudorf-Platendorf, (a district of Gifhorn) and (a district of Gifhorn) to Gifhorn. The river's only water level gauge () is located near Neudorf-Platendorf, from its mouth. Just before Gifhorn the Ise feeds the castle moat in Gifhorn as well as the Mühlensee lake, on which the Gifhorn Mill Museum stands. In Gifhorn's town centre the Ise meets the Aller, shortly after the point where it is dammed to power a mill. In older lexica, Gifhorn is characterised as an old 'marsh castle' () on the two rivers. Catchment area The Ise has a catchment area of . This is bisected in a north-south direction by the Elbe Lateral Canal that flows at a height of above sea level. The natural stream passes under the canal in culverts. The most important tributaries of the Ise are the Bruno, Beberbach and Knesebach; others include the Fulau, Gosebach, Isebeck, Momerbach and Riet. The catchment area of the Elbe begins east of the Ise region. Water quality The Lower Saxony water quality report of 2004 assessed chemical water pollution of the Ise as variable. The values for organic pollution, nitrate, ammonium and phosphate contamination varied from lightly polluted to critically polluted. At the Jägerhof, a popular destination for day trippers, on the B 188 near Gifhorn there has been a testing station since 1967 where water quality is measured. The White-stem Pondweed, a species of plant that is in danger of becoming extinct in Lower Saxony, grows very luxuriantly in this particular area. Points of interest The Ise used to be maintained by the Iseverband Wasser Association in Wahrenholz but has been superseded by the Aller-Ohre-Verband in Gifhorn. There is no shipping on the river but it is well suited to canoe tours (boats may be hired near Gifhorn). In recent decades the Ise and its surrounding landscape has been discovered to be a valuable natural habitat, so that its use for nature conservation has become a top priority. In general, the river crosses wide, flat meadow