Ospedale Reservoir


The Ospedale Reservoir is a reservoir in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.
It holds drinking water for the southeast of the island, including Porto-Vecchio.
It is surrounded by a forest that has been designated a Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique.

Location

The Ospedale Reservoir is in the commune of Porto-Vecchio to the north of the village of L'Ospedale.
L'Ospedale is a small mountain village at an altitude of.
Its name means "hospital", since it was once the location of a regional hospital.
The reservoir is formed by a dam on the Ruisseau de Palavesani, a tributary of the Oso river.
It is southeast of the Punta di U Corbu.
The D368 road runs along its southeast shore.

Dam

The dam was built in the late 1970s using levée techniques.
It came into service in 1979 and is operated by the Office d’Equipement Hydraulique de Corse.
It is a riprap structure high and long that impounds of water. The upstream dam wall was made impermeable by a bituminous geomembrane protected by precast concrete blocks. The crest elevation is.
The dam is subject to a complete inspection every ten years.
Depending on the amount of rain during the summer and the number of tourists it may or may not be necessary to drain water from the reservoir.

Reservoir

The reservoir covers within a watershed.
The reservoir holds the main water reserve for the Porto-Vecchio region.
It supplies drinking water to the whole of the Extrême Sud region.
The reservoir is filled by a pipe carrying water from the Asinao stream, which can only carry about of water per month.
In years of low rainfall this can cause problems during the summer tourist season.
The articial lake is surrounded by a landscape of rocky scree and a forest of laricio pines and beeches.
It has become became a tourist spot within the beautiful Ospedale Forest.
However, swimming is prohibited since the lake is a source of drinking water.

ZNIEFF

The reservoir and surrounding forest have been designated a type 1 continental Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique.
The ZNIEFF includes the Natura 2000 Zone "Forêt de l'Ospédale", the lake and its surroundings, the left bank of the lake where bats roost and an extension towards the northwest holding Yew habitats.
It covers and includes parts of the communes of San-Gavino-di-Carbini, Carbini, Porto-Vecchio and Levie.
The ZNIEFF is in Crystalline Corsica, a large granite massif that is altered on the surface and has some fractures and veins of quartz.
Where the bedrock is exposed it is pink granite, or leucogranite, rich in feldspathic minerals.
Altitudes range from
The forest has some islets of Yew, but is dominated by pine.
The ZNIEFF is a biotope favored by the Corsican nuthatch, the only bird that is endemic to France.
It is also home to golden eagle and long-eared owl.
It has the only breeding colony of grey long-eared bat found in Corsica.
It is sometimes visited by mouflons, and is potentially important for this species to repopulate its original range.
The site holds all species of Corsican amphibians, and contains several reptiles and amphibians of European interest including European leaf-toed gecko, Corsican painted frog, Tyrrhenian painted frog and Corsican brook salamander.
The area is also home to protected insects such as Corsican swallowtail, Corsican fritillary and Rosalia longicorn.