use in a hydropower plant and to drive several sawmills and a forge. However the Stockacher Aach does not naturally carry enough water to drive all of these, which is why as early as 1699, a canal was dug across the European Watershed to divert the water of the upper Ablach into the Mindersdorfer Aach. A canal of only across the Schwackenreute Plateau was all that it took to accomplish this. This effectively moved the European watershed, annexing the upper Ablach into the catchment area of the Rhine. Strictly speaking, the weir at the start of the canal creates an artificial bifurcation: most of the water is diverted via the Stockacher Aach to Lake Constance, but in times of heavy rainfall, the excess water follows the original course of the Ablach to the Danube. History People settled early in the fertile lands bordering the Ablach, in which traces of Celtic, Roman and Alamanni villages have been found. The name Ablach is probably derived from the Celtic Abela, which means something like "brook". In the fifth and sixth century, the Alamanni established villages in the more suitable places. These villages can be recognized by the fact that they have names ending in "-ingen": Göggingen, Menningen, Schnerkingen, Bichtlingen. Later the Ablach Valley gained importance because of its supply of wood and because the soil quality made it suitable for growing cereal. The annual spring floods ensured adequate fertilization. In the past century, the Ablach Valley became an important center for gravel mining. The course of the Ablach has been adjusted several times. A few kilometers of the headwaters have been diverted into the Stockacher Aach, reducing the catchment area of the Ablach by about . Curiously, the upper part of the Ablach as it flows through Zizenhausen was still called Ablach as late as 1857. The course of the river was again altered during construction of the Hegau-Ablach Valley Railway line, between 1866 and 1870 from Stockach to Meßkirch and between 1870 and 1873 from Meßkirch via Krauchenwies to Mengen. The line runs along the Ablach and crosses it several times. Room for the Ablach was further restricted by road construction, in particular the construction of Federal road 311. Road construction and the alteration of the habitat for agricultural purposes gave the landscape in the valley its current shape. The section of the Ablach between Menningen and Göggingen was improved after repeated