Beglika Explained

Beglika Dam
Location Map Caption:Location of Beglika in Bulgaria
Coordinates:41.824°N 24.1289°W
Location:Rhodope Mountains south of Batak
Construction Began:1954
Opening:1956
Dam Length:73.5m (241.1feet)
Res Name:Beglika Reservoir
Res Capacity Total:1600000m2
Res Catchment:24.74km2
Res Surface:0.3km2
Dam Height:18.3m (60feet)
Location Map:Bulgaria

Beglika (Bulgarian: Беглика) is a small reservoir in the Western Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria. Its lies in Batak Municipality in the southern part of Pazardzhik Province and forms part of the Batak Hydropower Cascade (254 MW).

Beglika is situated immediately under the dam of the Golyam Beglik Reservoir and serves as a seasonal equalizer of waters from the catchment of the Beglishka reka, a tributary of the Devinska reka in the Vacha drainage. Constructed in 1954–1956, it has a 18.3 m high concrete gravity dam with a length of 73.5 m. The dam forms a lake with an area of 0.3 km2 and a volume of 1.6 million m3.

It has a spillway with two openings of 9 m each and a maximum spillway capacity of 120 m3/s. The main outlet is a pipe with a diameter of 600 mm and a capacity of 3.0 m3/s. Beglika has a pumping station, through which its waters are pumped into the main pressure derivation of the Batak Hydro Power Plant or are diverted upstream to Golyam Beglik.

The reservoir is located 2 km southeast of the Beglika Reserve, established in 1960 to protect old-growth forests of Norway spruce (Picea abies), [1] which contains the only populations of Dasiphora fruticosa[2] and Astragalus alopecurus in the Balkans.[3]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Register of the Protected Territories and Zones in Bulgaria. Official Site of the Executive Environment Agency of Bulgaria. 4 December 2023.
  2. Web site: Plants of the World Online, Dasiphora fruticosa. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 4 December 2023.
  3. Web site: Plants of the World Online, Astragalus alopecurus. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 4 December 2023.