Lake of the Valley

In its current state, after being enlarged as a consequence of the works carried out for its exploitation, the lake of El Valle is the largest in surface area among the regional lakes and, due to its peculiar location, is among the most appreciated for its natural attractions.

Together with the lakes of Saliencia, the lake of El Valle forms the Conjunto Lacustre de Somiedo, declared a Natural Monument.

Plant life

Small carophytic algae, up to about 15 cm in size, are distributed below 2 m depth, preferably between 2 and 12 m, and do not appear to be abundant until 15 m depth.

The angiosperm found at the deepest depth was the filiform-leaved Potamogeton. Floating leaf plants were also found: Potamogeton natans, scarce and Ranunculus peltatus, and emergent plants, such as Eleocharis palustris, which prefers shallow water.

Finally, the zone of early drying, in addition to being partially occupied by some of the plants mentioned above and others that use the resources of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, such as Rorippa, Lythrum, etc., willows and invasive plants of dried-up basins, such as Herniaria, Filaginella, etc., are installed. In any case, in the eulittoral zone, the cover is not very important.

Wildlife

Other animals include bryozoans (Plummatella repens), molluscs (bivalves, Planorbis and gastropods), hirudinea (Erpobdella monostriata and Dina lineata), oligochaetes, heretoptera (Micronecta poweri), diptera, coleoptera, ephemeroptera, amphibians such as the brown frog and the common toad (Rana temporaria and Bufo bufo), the common trout and the piscardo.