LAKE OMODEO

Lake Omodeo (Lagu Omodeu in Sardinian) is the largest artificial lake in Sardinia. It is located in the province of Oristano, in the historical sub-region of Barigadu.
It is formed by the damming of the Tirso river first by the Santa Chiara dam and then by the more recent Eleonora d’Arborea dam, located in the territories of Ula Tirso and Busachi, respectively. The reservoir is named after Angelo Omodeo, the engineer who designed the first dam, which remains partially submerged by the waters of the new reservoir.
The first reservoir was realised with the construction of the Santa Chiara dam, near Ula Tirso, which was completed in 1924, and inaugurated on 28 April of the same year in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel III, creating the largest artificial lake in Europe, which had a maximum capacity of 403 million cubic metres of water[3].
The work for its construction was part of a larger project, which also included the reclamation of the Oristano plain. 16,000 workers were employed to carry out the project drawn up by engineer Angelo Omodeo, who also participated in the construction of the great dams on the Nile. The construction was completed in five years, under the direction of engineer Giulio Dolcetta[4].
More than 22 km long, the reservoir was built to regulate the river’s floods, to produce electricity and for the irrigation of the Campidano di Oristano plain. The creation of the reservoir also led to the submergence of some archaeological sites (nuraghi, tombs of giants, and the pre-nuragic settlement of Serra Linta[5]) and the small village of Zuri, which was rebuilt on a rise not far from the lake. The ancient church of the village, dedicated to St Peter the Apostle, was also dismantled ashlar by ashlar and rebuilt upstream, in its current position[6].
On 2 February 1941, the dam was attacked with torpedoes by planes from the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.
In 1997, the new dam, named after Eleonora d’Arborea, was inaugurated. The dam is 100 metres high and 582 metres long. The total volume of the reservoir is 792 million cubic metres of water, covering an area of 29.370 km²[3].