The Aue is a left, southwestern, tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Oste

Oste

The Oste is a river in northern Lower Saxony, Germany with a length of 153 km, left tributary of the Elbe. It flows through the districts of Harburg, Rotenburg, Stade and Cuxhaven and empties into the Elbe river near Otterndorf. Its drainage area is 1.711 km² and the decline between the...

 in northern Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) long.

Geography

Before the construction of the Neuhaus-Bülkau Canal the Aue was the natural outlet of the Balksee lake in the southwest part of the parish of Wingst

Wingst

Wingst is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany.Wingst belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the Duchy of Bremen, which was first ruled in personal union by the Swedish Crown -...

 on the southern edge of the collective municipality of Am Dobrock. The Balksee is, in turn, fed by several streams. The Aue today no longer has any direct link with the Balksee and rises on its northern edge. The Aue, as a former sea creek, has no natural gradient. The water level is artificially held below sea level by dyke sluice

Sluice

A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill...

s and a pumping station

Pumping station

Pumping stations are facilities including pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, such as the supply of water to canals, the drainage of low-lying land, and the removal of sewage to processing sites.A pumping station...

.

Tributaries

• Rönne
• Neuhaus-Bülkau Canal (most of the water from the Balksee and the old drainage basin of the Aue flows through this canal)
• Sprengeauswettern
• Splethauswettern