This year will be the opening of Plovdivtsi - the first drinking water dam built over the past 30 years

There’s also undergoing work on the construction of the Luda Yana Dam and the repair of the Studena Dam

Nikolay Nankov, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, inspected the construction of Plovdivtsi Dam near the village of the same name in Rudozem Municipality, Smolyan. The dam will be officially opened this year and will be the first similar site to be built in Bulgaria over the last three decades. Minister Nankov reported that to date more than 90% of the planned project activities have been implemented. Currently welding activities are taking place at the dam, Minister Nankov observed. Finishing works are also undergoing on the relocation of an existing road for access to agricultural and forest properties outside the sanitary and security zone, as well as completion of the gallery after the shaft spillway. The dam has a volume of 2.45 million m³ and has been designed for water supply of the cities of Rudozem and Madan, as well as more than 30 settlements in the Central Rhodopes with approximately 40,000 inhabitants. The construction of the water-power system includes a dam wall, shaft spillway, combined with a water tower, a main drain, a drinking water treatment plant, etc. The cost of the construction works is BGN 47.4 million. The dam is part of the project of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works with the World Bank “Municipal Infrastructure Development Project” amounting to BGN 170 million.

This project also provides funds for the construction of the Luda Yana Dam near Panagyurishte and the repair of Studena Dam near Pernik. Luda ​​Yana water-power system has a volume of 20 million m³ and was designed for the water supply of Panagyurishte Municipality and the settlements in the area. All six subsites on the construction site are currently being executed. The physical progress is about 20%. The deadline for implementation is 2019.

The rehabilitation of Studena Dam started last year. The repair of the wall on the side of the water body has been almost completed. Regardless of the low temperatures, there’s work underwater to apply a geomembrane to the wall, the main drain, and the water tower. There are forthcoming repairs on the dry side of the wall on the spillway, the energy dissipator and the monitoring point. The rehabilitation of the wall head is at an advanced stage. The physical progress is currently about 25%. The deadline for implementation is also 2019. The rehabilitation of the wall of Studena Dam will ensure its safe operation for a minimum of 50 years and will consequently increase the security for the water supply to the city of Pernik and nine other villages in the area with a total population of 100,000 inhabitants.