Ortolo Reservoir

The Ortolo Reservoir (Réservoir de l'Ortolo) is a reservoir in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.

Location
The Ortolo reservoir is formed by a dam (Barrage de l'Ortolo) that impounds the Ortolo river. Other affluents are the Ruisseau de Latagu and the Ruisseau de Caraglia. The southwest end and the dam are in the commune of Sartène, while the bulk of the reservoir is in the commune of Levie. The reservoir is to the north of the 1340 m Punta d'Ovace.

Dam
The dam is owned by the Collectivité Territoriale de Corse and operated by the Office d’Equipement Hydraulique de Corse. It is made of riprap. The dam is sealed by a 5 mm thick asphalt-impregnated geomembrane, known as a bituminous geomembrane. It is faced with concrete slabs 0.14 m thick, reinforced with polypropylene fibers. There is a needled nonwoven polypropylene geotextile between the geomembrane and the slabs. The concrete slabs were cast in place.

The dam is 36 m high and 143 m long with a crest elevation of 175.7 m. It contains 2920000 m3 of water and has a surface area of 26.6 ha. The watershed covers 55 km2. The dam provides water for irrigation.

Fishing is allowed, including angling or casting from the shore, fishing from a flat-bottomed boat without a motor, or from a float tube.

History
The dam was filled in 1995. It came into service in 1996. Average volume actually contained fluctuated in the period from 2003 to 2019 between about 1600000 m3 to 2800000 m3.

Over the first twenty years the structure suffered severe degradation. In July 2013 an expert reported that the 1 m diameter intake pipe, which had been 10 mm thick was in some places reduced to 3 mm. In March 2014 farmers in Cauria-Tizzano-Conca in Sartène staged a protest because they were not receiving water from the dam. Repair work started in 2016 but was interrupted by floods in November and December that year. Work resumed in November 2017.