Ogosta ( Bulgarian : Язовир Огоста ) is a lake and reservoir in the north-west of Bulgaria . The second largest artificial lake in Bulgaria (after the Iskar Reservoir ), and also in the wider Balkan Peninsula , it is one of the biggest in Europe .
6-507: Collecting the waters of the rivers Ogosta , Burzia, and Zlatitsa, the lake begins only 600 meters to the south-west of the edge of Montana city, and its surface is some 60 meters above the ground level of the city. Its water catchment area covers 948 km, and the area of the lake itself is 24 hectares. The average water volume is 384 Mm, while the maximum volume is 506Mm. According to the Cambridge Ancient History ,
12-625: Is the largest river in Northwestern Bulgaria , a right tributary of the Danube . It originates at Chiprovska Mountain, 2,168 meters high section of the Western Balkan Mountains , at about an altitude of 1,760 meters, on the border with Serbia . The towns of Chiprovtsi , Montana , and Miziya are situated on the river's banks. The Ogosta river is 147.4 km in length and is fed by 40 tributaries (including
18-487: The Skat River ) in a watershed of 3,157 square kilometers. The average water discharge in the lower course of the river is 18 cubic meters per second. Along the river's length there are 14 irrigation systems, 8 hydropower plants, and 13 dams. Although the river is used for domestic consumption, it does suffer from pollution, particularly from nitrates . These come from the use of fertilizers that are not fully used by
24-511: The name "Ogosta" may represent the Latin name Augusta . The construction of the dam which created the lake took twenty years and was completed in 1986. For the project two villages were flooded, Jivovtsi and Kalimanitsa, and their inhabitants were found new homes in nearby Berkovitsa and Montana. One purpose of the new reservoir was to irrigate large areas of agricultural land lying between Montana and Zlatia, near Lom , but by 1989 only half of
30-568: The necessary infrastructure of water-pipes had been laid down, and the irrigation scheme was never completed. Now the waters of the lake are used instead to generate electricity, and two hydro-electric power-stations called “Kosharnik” and “Ogosta” have been built below the dam. In 1999 the lake was designated for commercial fishing and it now holds a wide variety of fish, including carp , carassius , rudd , carp bream , perch , nase , barbus and others. Ogosta The Ogosta ( Bulgarian : Огоста [oˈɡɔstɐ] , Latin : Augusta ),
36-401: The plants. Other than that, there were intensive mining activities along the river between 1950 and 1999, and factories also produced pollution. That being said, the river's water quality is not uniformly poor, and the upper areas of the river are relatively free from pollution. The major sources of income the river provides are for farmers and animal herders . This is because the farmers use
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