The Augsburg Eiskanal is an artificial whitewater river in Augsburg, Germany, constructed as the canoe slalom venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics in nearby Munich. The first artificial whitewater course of its kind, it introduced the sport of canoe slalom (using decked canoes and kayaks) to the Olympic Games. However, because of the expense of building artificial rivers and supplying them with water, canoe slalom was missing from the next four Summer Olympics. It returned with the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and has been featured in every Summer Olympics since then. The Eiskanal has thus served as the prototype for six Olympic whitewater venues, from 1992 through 2012, and for more than fifty training and competition facilities in eighteen countries (see list). Despite being the oldest, it is still one of the most widely used, hosting two World Championships and numerous World Cup races. It was a World Cup venue for all but four of the years 1990 through 2010, and it was so again in 2013 and 2014. The facility and its website are jointly managed by two clubs with headquarters in the boat house, Augsburger Kayak Club eV and Canoe Schwaben Augsburg. History The Hochablass (High Drain) dam on the north-flowing Lech river south of Augsburg dates back to 1647. It was most recently rebuilt in 1911-1912. The dam diverts river water into the Hauptstadtbach (Capital Creek) which branches into the many canals of the Augsburg Lech district as it flows through the town. In Medieval times, the canals were used for drinking water, water wheel operation, and sewage disposal. In 1875, in order to collect drinking water from the upstream end of the system, a water collection and filtration plant was built straddling a new bypass branch of Capital Creek, near the dam. (In 2007 it was decommissioned and converted into a waterworks museum and a small hydro power station.) The original channel became known as the Eiskanal (ice channel), since it was used to deflect floating ice away from the waterworks facility, protecting its equipment. By the 1950s, the Eiskanal was already in use as a canoe slalom venue, but its slope was much less than that of the mountain streams commonly used in the sport. When the 1972 Olympic Games were awarded to Munich, a plan was devised to create a much steeper artificial whitewater rapid by constructing a 300-meter-long channel connecting the Eiskanal