Vogršček reservoir
Vogršček is an artificial reservoir created by damming the Vogršček stream; the valley was flooded without clearing trees or topsoil, so the bed is muddy, full of tree remains and the water is murky. The easiest dive is in the smaller northern part, cut off by the motorway, where depth reaches about 6 m; below 5 m it is pitch dark. Life is limited to small fish in the shallows and freshwater mussels, but in a hard winter the reservoir can freeze, making the northern part a simple ice-diving spot.
Facts
- Region: Slovenia – Lakes, Rivers & Caves
- Area: Vipava valley & Karst (Škocjan)
- Depth: 0–6 m
- Level: beginner
- Current: low
- Type: bay, night
- Coordinates: 45.90964, 13.74793
- Highlights: flooded valley with drowned trees and branches, freshwater mussels, small fish in the shallows, ice diving in hard winters
- Tips: Legal status: Vogršček is a state-owned (Republic of Slovenia) flood-retention and irrigation reservoir for the Vipava valley; it is not a drinking-water source in the sources found and no bathing or diving ban was found, but no official rule permitting diving was found either. The dam was renovated after 2020, so access and water levels may differ from the 2012 sheet. Access from the road between Črniče and Šempas (opposite the turn to Osek) to the upper end of the reservoir; park near the gentle shore on either side of the motorway. Use a compass and torch – visibility is under half a metre in summer. Beware of entanglement in branches, keep away from the outflow under the motorway and the gate on the main dam, and surface carefully because of windsurfers, small sailing boats and model boats. The sheet's remarks about the main basin (water leaking past the dam) predate the dam repair contracted in 2020, so water levels may now differ. The SPZ sheet dates from 2012; river gravel, banks and access roads may have changed since.