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Sustainability evaluation of Mornos Lake/Reservoir, Greece

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Abstract

The modern climate trend and population growth have dramatically increased the need for maximization of the net benefit from the existing storage space in freshwater reservoirs. However, sedimentation in reservoirs through physical deposition and/or slope failures is a major threat to their productivity and life expectancy. In this context, the sedimentation impact on the sustainability of Mornos Lake/Reservoir, which is exceptionally vital for the ~ 3.1 million inhabitants of Athens, had to be evaluated. Therefore, a meticulous geophysical survey of the reservoir bed was conducted in 2015 for the very first time. Bathymetric, sidescan sonar, and seismic profiling datasets, all integrated with real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning, were analyzed for a realistic evaluation of the storage capacity loss. Approximately 18.2 × 106 m3 of lacustrine sediments derived through physical wedge-type deposition process and ~ 800,000 m3 of material produced by slope failures have covered the bottom since reservoir commissioning in 1981. This configures an average storage capacity loss of ~ 0.07% per year, which, however, is one of the lowest rates worldwide. Moreover, the 108-m-deep reservoir basin can presently accommodate a maximum active water volume of ~ 740 × 106 m3. The siltation pattern and sediment transport pathways in the reservoir are principally controlled by vigorous turbidity underflows, which deliver sediment mainly to the dam area (deposition thickness up to ~ 7 m) as well as to the pumping area (deposition thickness up to ~ 4 m) posing there a future risk; nevertheless, according to the predicted lake bathymetry, this risk will be negligible till 2045.

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Funding

This investigation was financially supported by the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company, while the geophysical survey raw data are stored in the database of the Institute of Oceanography of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and they can be accessible with prior permission of the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Oceanography, 46.7 km Athens-Sounio Avenue, 19013, Anavyssos, Attica, Greece

    Grigoris Rousakis, Ioannis P. Panagiotopoulos, Paraskevi Drakopoulou, Panos Georgiou, Vasilios Kapsimalis, Isidoros Livanos, Ioannis A. Morfis & Christos Anagnostou

  2. Division of Raw Water Intake, Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company SA, 16 Galatsiou Avenue, 11141, Athens, Attica, Greece

    Dimitrios Nikolopoulos & Maria Koutra

  3. Amfissa-Dafnoula Connecting Aqueduct, Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company SA, 33100, Amfissa, Phocis, Greece

    Nikolaos Mporompokas

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  1. Grigoris Rousakis
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  2. Ioannis P. Panagiotopoulos
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  3. Paraskevi Drakopoulou
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  4. Panos Georgiou
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Correspondence to Ioannis P. Panagiotopoulos.

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Rousakis, G., Panagiotopoulos, I.P., Drakopoulou, P. et al. Sustainability evaluation of Mornos Lake/Reservoir, Greece. Environ Monit Assess 190, 64 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6431-3

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