Ivaylovgrad Reservoir () is located on the river

Arda Arda or ARDA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Arda (Middle-earth), fictional world in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien * Arda (band), a Russian heavy metal band People * Arda (name) Places *Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece *A ...

in the eastern

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

of southern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It was constructed to provide electricity generation and irrigation as a major part of the

Arda Hydropower Cascade Arda or ARDA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Arda (Middle-earth), fictional world in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien * Arda (band), a Russian heavy metal band People * Arda (name) Places *Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece *Ard ...

along the reservoirs of Studen Kladenets and

Kardzhali Kardzhali ( , ''Kărdžali''; ), sometimes spelt Kardžali or Kurdzhali, is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a town in the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria, centre of Kardzhali Municipality and Kardzhali Province. The noted Kardzhali Reservoir is ...

further upstream.

Geography

The reservoir lies in the municipalities of

Madzharovo Madzharovo ( , formerly Dupnitsa) is a small Bulgarian town in the Eastern Rhodopes, part of Haskovo Province, situated on the banks of the river Arda. It has a population of only 590, as of December 2009,Lyubimets Lyubimets ( ) is a small town in Haskovo Province, southern-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Lyubimets Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 7,670.Ivaylovgrad Ivaylovgrad (, "city of Ivaylo", , Turkish :Ortaköy, "Middle Village") is a town in Haskovo Province in the south of Bulgaria set near the river Arda in the easternmost part of the Rhodope Mountains, and is the administrative centre of the h ...

Haskovo Province Haskovo Province (; former name ''Haskovo okrug'') is a province in southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece and Turkey to the southeast, comprising parts of the Thracian valley along the river Maritsa. It is named after its administrative and i ...

. Its dam is situated north of the homonymous town and a few kilometers upstream from the Bulgaria–Greece border. Ivaylovgrad Reservoir is located in the eastern reaches of the Rhodope Mountains on the major river Arda, a right tributary of the

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

. Its shoreline is 64 km long and is mostly covered with dense deciduous forests. The territory around the reservoir has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

and supports 163 bird species, including breeding populations of European importance of

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), sometimes known as the 'sea eagle', is a large bird of prey, widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which also ...

booted eagle The booted eagle (''Hieraaetus pennatus'', also classified as ''Aquila pennata'') is a medium-sized mostly migratory bird of prey with a wide distribution in the Palearctic and southern Asia, wintering in the tropics of Africa and Asia, with a ...

and

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

Dam

Ivaylovgrad Reservoir was constructed in 1959–1964. Four villages were submerged by its waters. It was initially considered as a much larger structure, capable of damming over 1 billion m³, but that option was not chosen, as it would have flooded the then operative

Madzharovo Madzharovo ( , formerly Dupnitsa) is a small Bulgarian town in the Eastern Rhodopes, part of Haskovo Province, situated on the banks of the river Arda. It has a population of only 590, as of December 2009, It has a concrete gravity dam, situated in the easternmost part of the artificial lake, with a height of 73 m and a length of 365 m. The dam wall is traversed by the third class III-597 road. The main spillway has a capacity of 270 m³/s. The reservoir covers a territory of 15.1 km² and a catchment area of 5,126 km². The projected volume is 188 million m³ but due to sediment accumulation it has been reduced to 156.7 million m³. The Ivaylovgrad Hydropower Plant with a capacity of 104 MW is built into the wall, below the spillway overflow. It is also utilized to control the floods of the Arda.

Gallery

File:Ivailovgrad Dam 2.jpg , A view of the reservoir File:Ivailovgrad Dam PD 2011 14.JPG , A view of the reservoir File:Ivailovgrad Dam 9.jpg , The dam File:Ivaylovgrad Reservoir.jpg , The upper part in drought

Citations

References

* * * {{Arda (Maritsa) dams Reservoirs in Bulgaria Tourist attractions in Haskovo Province Landforms of Haskovo Province Rhodope Mountains