Figari Reservoir

The Figari Reservoir (Réservoir de Figari, Rétenue de Figari, Lac de Talza, Lac de Ventilegne) is a reservoir in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica. It provides water for irrigation and human consumption.

Location
The Figari Reservoir is in the commune of Figari near the south coast of Corsica. It is southeast of the village of Figari. It is formed by a dam, the Barrage de Figari, that impounds the Ruisseau de Ventilegne. The reservoir supplies water for human consumption and for irrigation to the communes of Bonifacio, Figari, Pianottoli-Caldarello and Monacia-d'Aullène.

Dam
The dam came into service in 1993 and is operated by the Office d’Equipement Hydraulique de Corse (OEHC). It is a riprap structure 35 m high and 145 m long with a crest elevation of 52 m. It holds 5600000 m3 of water. The reservoir has a surface area of 68 ha and is fed by a drainage basin of 16.2 km2. The waterbody, dam and facilities occupy about 87 ha in the commune of Figari, but include 5200 m2 in the municipality of Bunifaziu, which holds the pumping station.

Developments
In December 2002 it was reported that the Agence de l'eau Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse had provided up to 600,000 euros to the OEHC so it could install a water intake on the Orgone river from which it could supply additional water to the Figari reservoir. Implementation was planned for the fall of 2003.

In 2018 the OEHC scheduled work to renew the 500 mm steel pipeline downstream from the Figari dam and to replace a defective 350 mm valve in the pumping station. As of 2019 the OEHC was planning substantial upgrades to the spillway so it could handle a 10,000 year flood. There were also considering a hydroelectric power plant on the filling pipe of the reservoir, and considering floating solar panels.

The Extrême-Sud region consumed over 240000 m3 of water per week in August 2020, considerably higher than the ten-year average and caused more by high heat than by tourism, which was down that year. The Figari and Ospedale reservoirs are the only two storage structures for the region, with a combined capacity of 9000000 m3, not enough to meet future needs. There were plans to expand the pipeline from the Figari dam north to the Nota water treatment station and to increase the capacity of the Figari reservoir by 1500000 m3. Plans also included building a dam on the Cavu to store 5000000 m3 of water.