The Kardzhali Reservoir is a

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 contr ...

formed by the ''Kardzhali Dam'', situated less than 1 km to the west of the town of

Kardzhali Kardzhali ( bg, Кърджали , ''Kărdžali''; tr, Kırcaali; gr, Κάρτζαλι, ''Kártzali''), sometimes spelt Kardžali or Kurdzhali, is a town in the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria, centre of Kardzhali Municipality and Kardzhali Pro ...

Kardzhali Province Kardzhali Province ( bg, Област Кърджали, Oblast Kărdžali, tr, Kırcaali ili) is a province of southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece with the Greek regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope, and Evros to the south and east. It is 3 ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. It is the second largest reservoir by volume in the country. The dam was constructed between 1957 and 1963 and was commissioned into service in the year of its completion. The reservoir has water catchment area of 1182 km² and maximum volume of 539.9 million m3. When it is filled to its maximum capacity the reservoir covers are of 16.07 km² and its surface has elevation of 324.3 meters above the sea level. The Hydroelectric Power Plant is situated at the foot of the dam. The reservoir was recently seeded artificially with

European perch The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...

. The fish was taken from the Ovcharitsa reservoir. The first historical moment of the reservoir was in the 1970s, when it was artificially seeded with

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

. Nowadays there are 100 kg representatives. Later, 45,000

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

were introduced into the reservoir as well.

References

Hydro Power Cascades and Dams

External links

* Reservoirs in Bulgaria Landforms of Kardzhali Province Kardzhali Rhodope Mountains {{bulgaria-struct-stub