Mavrokolympus dam problems

[LouiseCastricum]

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https://cyprus-mail.com/2025/01/21/thin ... mpos-fault

[trevnhil]

This is very serious.. Even more so if they have to empty the reservoir.
I didn't realise that the Paphos area had no desalination plant now
"Pittokopitis said things would be tough for Paphos if the water was lost, given the recent destruction of the only desalination plant in the area."

[cyprusmax47]

This dam was the only one in Cyprus with 64% full, on the other hand there is no surprise as there are not too many banana plantations left, due to massive building construction in that area. After repair/rebuilding of the dam they should use its water for drinking purpose and only if there is a wet winter for irrigation...

Max

[Paul]

This might be a good time for the bottom of the dam to be cleaned out of mud and silt when it's empty.
after all it was built in 1966.

[Dominic]

I was going to fly my drone over the reservoir today, but since the Government updated its drone fly zones, half of it (the most interesting half, including the dam) is in a n-flight zone because of the nearby military base.

I was somewhat surprised at the stated level of water though. Most reservoirs are less full than than they were a year ago. Yet the Mavrokolympos is 25% fuller. And there are still lots of banana plantations in the area.

[cyprusmax47]

And there are still lots of banana plantations in the area.

Well,yes, but if I compare the amount of bananas in the lower Peyia area now and the 80's when I used to drive from Polis for a swim, there were only banana and grape wine fields around,( not endless amounts of houses and villas like nowadays).... using the water of the Mavrokolymbos Dam, built for that purpose, irrigation.

Max

[Dominic]

Out of interest do you keep a record of the water levels of the reservoirs? I keep meaning to do one but have never gotten around to it. When I last visited the Mavrokolympos it was pretty empty. I am curious as to when it got all its water.

[cyprusmax47]

Out of interest do you keep a record of the water levels of the reservoirs? I keep meaning to do one but have never gotten around to it. When I last visited the Mavrokolympos it was pretty empty. I am curious as to when it got all its water.

Here one from early 2024




and one after all the rains in Dec 2024


So it looks like that the dam kept its level from Spring to Autumn at ca 40-50% to increase finally lately to 64%.... after the late December rains.
As the capacity of the dam is not too big that will happen quickly after a couple of rainy days.



Max

[Dominic]

Thanks for that. I really want to get an automated process, but the data is presented as a PDF so cannot be easily extracted by a computer program.

Well if it fills up that quickly they should start emptying it today, and fix it, so it still has a chance to fill up again.