Near Senise lies the Monte Cotugno Dam, the largest clay-faced dam on the entire European continent. Its purpose is to store water from the River Sinni for agricultural, industrial, drinking and domestic use.
The resulting lake is subject to a multi-year regulation scheme. To ensure the reservoir is filled as frequently as possible, water is channelled from two catchment areas: the Sarmento stream and the River Agri, which are diverted via specially constructed weirs and channelled through cross-valley tunnels.
The dam is notable both for the numerous rowing competitions held there and for the many species of wildlife typical of lake environments, including:
- Resident birds such as blackbirds and little owls, wild pigeons and rock pigeons, calandra larks and nightingales, crows and rooks.
- At certain times of the year, it is also a destination for many migratory species, such as the mallard, the grey heron and the great egret, swifts and common gulls, etc.
A few… figures
The dam wall is 1,850 metres long, 60 metres high and 260 metres wide at the base. The pipe has a diameter of 3 metres and its maximum flow rate (in summer) is 15–13 cubic metres, whilst in winter the minimum is 4–5 cubic metres.
The dam came into operation in 1983 and blocks the river’s course where it narrows.
The Sinni, formerly known as “Siris” by the Greeks, rises in the Giumenta mountain range at an altitude of 1,850 metres, a tributary of the Sirino, and flows for 94 km.
It receives water from both the right (the Frido, Rubbio and Sarmento streams) and the left (the Cogliandrino and Serrapotamo streams) and has the typical appearance of a river with a wide, pebbly bed. It is often dry for much of the year, but becomes torrential during winter floods.
The Pollino and Mount La Spina mark its southern boundary; to the north, on the other hand, are Sirino, Mount Alpi, Tempa Coda di Volpe and Tempa Acqua Seccagna.
