Lake Peruća or Peruča ( hr, Jezero Peruča
or ') is the second largest
artificial lake
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, after
Lake Dubrava
Lake Dubrava ( hr, Dubravsko jezero) is a reservoir on the Drava in northern Croatia. It is administratively divided between Međimurje County and Varaždin County, and is bordered by the municipalities of Prelog, Croatia, Prelog, Sveti Đurđ an ...
. It is located in the
Split-Dalmatia County
Split-Dalmatia County ( hr, Splitsko-dalmatinska županija ) is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 14.106,40 km2.
Split-Dalmat ...
.
Location
Located in inland
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
,
south
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
of the
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
of the River
Cetina
Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Naprijed ...
, northeast of the State route
D1 between the towns of
Sinj
Sinj (; it, Signo; german: Zein) is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,478 and the population of the administrative municipality, which includes surrounding villages, is 24 ...
and
Vrlika
Vrlika is a small town in inland Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The closest large towns are Sinj, Knin, and Drniš. Vrlika was given the status of town in 1997. Vrlika is an underdeveloped municipality which is statistically classified as the ...
.
The Lake is on the course of the River Cetina, bounded by
Svilaja
Svilaja is a mountain range in Croatia, in the Dalmatian Hinterland.
It is part of the Dinaric Alps and stretches from the town of Sinj northwest to the Petrovo field, approximately 30 km in length. The highest peak is Svilaja or Bat at 15 ...
mountain to the southwest and
Dinara
Dinara is a long mountain range in the Dinaric Alps, located on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It has four major mountains or peaks, from north-west to south-east:
* Ilica or Ujilica (1654 m)
* Sinjal or Dinara (1831 m), ep ...
mountain to the northeast.
Building of the dam
The Lake is fed by
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
from the Cetina River, and drains an area of 3,700 km
2, while the total catchment area of the Cetina is around 12,000 km
2. The annual discharge is around 105 m
3 s
−1 as a consequence of a mean annual rainfall of 1380 mm. This is why the artificial lake was created by building a
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
on Cetina River in 1958, some 25 km downstream. The Peruća lake was the first large
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
created in
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
and the first remote reservoir in the Cetina Hydropower System that makes use of its 390 m total elevation drop. The reservoir was impounded in the Cetina
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
upstream of the
Hrvatačko Polje (a ''
karst field
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the mine ...
'') by the construction of the 63 m high Peruća earth dam and
grout curtain
A grout curtain is a barrier that protects the foundation of a dam from seepage and can be made during initial construction or during repair. Additionally, they can be used to strengthen foundations and contain spills.
Characteristics
A grout curt ...
. The Peruća lake reservoir active storage is about 37% of the mean annual
inflow
Inflow may refer to:
* Inflow (hydrology), the water entering a body of water
* Inflow (meteorology)
Inflow is the flow of a fluid into a large collection of that fluid. Within meteorology, inflow normally refers to the influx of warmth and moi ...
, and it considerably affects the Cetina flow regulation at the downstream power plants between
Sinjsko Polje
Sinjsko Polje () is a polje (karstic field) in the inner Dalmatia region of Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our ...
(''field'') and the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
. The head concentration which is the result of Peruća Dam construction is used by the Peruća
Hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
Power Plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
. The Peruća lake reservoir's active storage is 565 million m
3 at the maximum operating level at an elevation of 361.50 m.a.s.l. The maximum reservoir
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
level is 362.00 m.a.s.l. This was considered a great achievement at that time. The majority of the catchment drains
calcareous
Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
In zoology
''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...
are rocks of the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
period, predominantly
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
. Peruća lake is the third largest lake in Croatia by size.
It is spread over 10–20 km², and is 60–70 m at its maximum depth, depending on quantity of rain/snow in winter.
Building the dam on the Cetina and creating the lake, has limited flooding downstream. Dalmatia has secured a greater
energy supply Energy supply is the delivery of fuels or transformed fuels to point of consumption. It potentially encompasses the extraction, transmission, generation, distribution and storage of fuels. It is also sometimes called energy flow.
This supply o ...
.
Before it was built, the State of
SFRY
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...
nationalised land which belonged to the inhabitants of the neighbouring settlements of
Vrlika
Vrlika is a small town in inland Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The closest large towns are Sinj, Knin, and Drniš. Vrlika was given the status of town in 1997. Vrlika is an underdeveloped municipality which is statistically classified as the ...
,
Garjak,
Kosore,
Ježević,
Laktac
Laktac ( sr-cyr, Лактац), is a settlement in the Hrvace municipality in Croatia.
Geography
Laktac is situated 13 km southeast from Vrlika and 20 km northwest from Sinj, at the foot of the Dinara Mountain Range, on the Cetina river (Peruća ...
,
Dabar
The word ''dabar'' ( he, דָּבָר) means "word", "talk" or "thing" in Hebrew. ''Dabar'' occurs in various contexts in the Hebrew Bible.
The Septuagint, the oldest translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, uses the terms ''rhema'' and ''l ...
,
Vučipolje,
Zasiok,
Bitelić,
Rumin,
Hrvace
Hrvace is a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. It has a population of 3,617 (2011 census), 98% of which are Croats. The mayor's name is Dinko Bošnjak. Settlements in the municipality are Dabar, Split-Dalmatia County, Dabar, Do ...
,
Satrić,
Potravlje,
Maljkovo
Maljkovo is a settlement in the Hrvace municipality in Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
...
,
Otišić and
Maovice
Maovice is a small village in Split-Dalmatia county, Croatia. Maovice is a settlement in the Vrlika municipality, and has a population of 494. The majority of the population are Croats.
Location
Located in inland Dalmatia, west from the town o ...
.
In the middle of the lake, there was an old
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Dragović Monastery
The Dragović Monastery () is a Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox monastery situated on a hill downstream the Cetina River not far from Vrlika in Croatia. When the artificial Peruća Lake was created, the original monastery sank due to lan ...
. Before the artificial lake for the hydroelectric power station at Peruća was created, the Dragović monastery was moved to a hill not far from the old fortress at Gradina.
Croatian War of Independence
The Peruća Dam was gravely damaged during the
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
, when on January 28, 1993, in the aftermath of
Operation Maslenica
Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Maslen ...
, at 10:48 a.m., the dam was blown up in an intentional effort to destroy it by
Serbian/
Yugoslav army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...
forces. They mined it with 30 tons of explosive and detonated the charges with the intention of harming thousands of Croatian civilians downstream. The explosion caused heavy damage, but ultimately failed to demolish the dam. The Croatian communities in the Cetina valley (from
Sinj
Sinj (; it, Signo; german: Zein) is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,478 and the population of the administrative municipality, which includes surrounding villages, is 24 ...
to
Omiš
Omiš (, Latin and it, Almissa) is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is situated approximately south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split. Its location is wh ...
) were nevertheless in great danger of being flooded by water from Peruća lake. The actions of the
UNPROFOR
The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...
officer
Mark Nicholas Gray (''Major in the British Royal Marines'') prevented the disaster at the Dam because before the explosion he had raised the spillway channel and reduced the level of water in the lake by four meters. This prevented total collapse of the dam and engineers were quickly able to maintain the integrity of the dam.
Subsequently, the Croatian forces intervened and recovered the dam and the surrounding area. On January 29, a small Croatian army team, supported by engineers previously employed in dam maintenance, verified that the main outlet valve could be accessed. It was accessible but stuck due to two years of neglect, loaded with 700 tons of hydrostatic pressure. The engineers then refilled the oil in the hydraulic pumps and used an UNPROFOR engine to restart them. This allowed for the lake to finally drain into Cetina, at a rate of 187 m
3/s.
In August 1993,
HEP started to repair the dam. The works on the dam were completed some time after the war ended, in May 1996.
In 2002, Colonel Gray was awarded the
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(although not for his actions at Peruća). In 2011,
Croatian President
The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...
Ivo Josipović
Ivo Josipović (; born 28 August 1957) is a Croatian academic, jurist, and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2010 to 2015.
Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ), and played a ke ...
decorated four Croatian soldiers for valor in combat at Peruća. On 27 January 2013, the 20th anniversary of the HV recapture of the Peruća dam, Gray was awarded
Order of Duke Domagoj
The Order of Duke Domagoj ( hr, Red kneza Domagoja) is the 8th most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia and is the nation's highest award for bravery. The order was founded on April 1, 1995. The medal is awarded for valor in combat. ...
by president Josipović.
See also
*
List of lakes in Croatia
*
List of dam failures
A dam failure or dam burst is a catastrophic type of structural failure characterized by the sudden, rapid, and uncontrolled release of impounded water or the likelihood of such an uncontrolled release. Between the years 2000 and 2009 more than ...
Notes
* Monster of Peruća lake is a snake ''
Elaphe quatuorlineata
''Elaphe quatuorlineata'' (common names: four-lined snake, Bulgarian ratsnake) is a member of the family Colubridae. The four-lined snake is a non-venomous species and one of the largest of the European snakes.
Description
The species' common ...
'' ( hr, Kravosas or '), which can grow to more than 3 m in length. It appears rarely on the lake. Every 10 to 15 years there is an eyewitness who claims its existence. It is the biggest
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an snake.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peruca Lake
Landforms of Split-Dalmatia County
Lakes of Croatia
Archaeological sites in Croatia
Dam failures in Europe
Dams completed in 1958
Embankment dams