Limassol-Amathus Sewerage Board (SALA) plans for the creation of a Rainwater Retention Lake in the Municipality of Agios Athanasios are well in progress.The proposed Lake will have a capacity of 70 thousand cubic meters, designed for a 25-year recovery period, with a peak flow of 25 cubic meters of water per second and estimated construction cost of €3 million. The Town Planning Department recently informed SALA about the configuration of the road network, which is affected by the creation of the Lake, while on December 6 a meeting was held at the Department's offices between SALA, the Municipality of Agios Athanasios and Town Planning, during which the three parties agreed the next steps to implement the project.
SALA is already at an advanced stage in terms of securing the required land, which will be acquired through expropriations of private land and leasing of state land. The lake is adjacent to the southern side of the bypass, between the Agios Athanasios and Mesa Geitonia roundabouts, east of the Super Home Center department store. It is a natural hollow in which the central bed of the Vathkeias River ends, extending from the area of the traditional center of Agios Athanasios to the north, along Linopetra Avenue and ends up in the sea next to the Crowne Plaza hotel.
The bed of this river, south of the highway, has shrunk due to rapid urbanization and the construction of structures near or even within it, as a result of which the drainage capacity of the River is limited. With the creation of the Lake, the large amounts of rainwater that end up in the river will be retained, so as to remove the possibility of its overflow, to be released gradually and in a controlled fashion, in a way that would not create problems in the riverside areas.
The Agios Athanasios Rainfall Retention Lake is part of SALA's broader planning for overall flood protection of Limassol, Seen as an environmentally beneficial way of managing rainwater, it makes part of the organization's policy to create Sustainable Rainfall Management Systems. Furthermore, with the creation of the lake, the underground aquifers are enriched and the need for the construction of huge and costly rainwater drainage systems is reduced. SALA's vision is for the Lake of Agios Athanasios to stand out in the area and to that end there are plans to include an upgraded landscaping and the creation of a perimeter pedestrian or bicycle path, with lighting, benches and trees.
