Lek River

The Lek is a river in the western Netherlands of some 60 km in length. It is the name of a distributary of the Rhine river that is called the Nether Rhine prior to the town of Wijk bij Duurstede, where the name "Rhine" is transferred to a much smaller stream called the Kromme Rijn ("Crooked Rhine"), but the main stream becomes the Lek. A short distance past Wijk the river intersects with the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal that continues on towards the Waal. A branch of this canal, the Lek Canal is connected to the river at the town of Nieuwegein.

Other major towns along its banks are Culemborg, Vianen, Schoonhoven, Nieuw-Lekkerland and Lekkerkerk[?]. The bed of the river lies slightly higher than the surrounding lands and dikes are therefore essential to containing the Lek. At the village of Kinderdijk[?] the Lek meets the Noord river and the combined stream is thereafter known as the Nieuwe Maas as it flows down towards the North Sea.