Deesbach Forebay, reservoir in Germany

The Deesbach Forebay is a stone-fill dam made of Posidonia shale with an asphalt concrete outer seal, two sealing layers, a support layer and a drainage layer. Its spillway is a crest overflow on the right slope with a collection and chute channel leading to a stilling basin. The dam impounds the Lichte between Lichte (Geiersthal) and Unterweissbach.

The Deesbach Forebay was built as a pre-dam for the planned Leibis-Lichte Dam, which was only started long after the forebay's completion. From 1992 to 2005 it temporarily supplied drinking water to over 100,000 people in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Saale-Orla districts; that permit expired in 2005. When the main dam opened in 2008, the forebay took on its intended role of pre-cleaning and sedimentation.

The forebay can only be reached on foot or by bicycle: along the main dam from Unterweissbach, along the tributaries from Deesbach, or via a signposted path from the Fröbelturm tower. There is no car access.

The forebay was never meant to supply drinking water directly, yet from 1992 to 2005 it did exactly that for over 100,000 people in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt and Saale-Orla districts. Its permit for temporary raw-water extraction expired in 2005, and since the Leibis-Lichte Dam opened in 2008 the forebay has served its intended role of pre-cleaning and sedimentation, backed up by the main dam.