About Cimia Dam

The Cimia reservoir stands on the Dirillo river in the province of Ragusa in south-eastern Sicily, near the Comiso plateau. Completed in 1977 with a capacity of 12 million cubic metres, the earthfill dam rises 55 metres above the Dirillo valley floor. Cimia serves agricultural and municipal water needs in the Ragusa province, one of Sicily's most economically active zones, known for its extensive greenhouse cultivation of early vegetables and for its Ragusano DOP cheese production that requires reliable irrigation and livestock water. The Dirillo river flows through a landscape of limestone plateaux and clay valleys characteristic of south-eastern Sicily, collecting winter rainfall before turning south towards the Gulf of Gela. Cimia works in tandem with the smaller Ragoleto reservoir downstream to optimise use of the Dirillo's flow. The area around the reservoir is part of Sicily's most intensively farmed zone, and water availability directly determines the output and viability of the region's export-oriented horticultural sector.