About Gammauta Dam

Gammauta is a small reservoir on a tributary of the Magazzolo river in western Sicily, near the town of Burgio in the province of Agrigento. Completed in 1964 with a capacity of 7 million cubic metres, the earthfill dam at 50 metres height was one of several smaller impoundments built in the 1960s to serve the water needs of rural communities in western Sicily. Despite its modest size, Gammauta plays an important local role in providing drinking water to communities in the Ribera and Sciacca areas and supporting small-scale irrigation in the Magazzolo valley. The reservoir basin collects runoff from the low limestone hills of western Sicily, an area of thin soils and sparse scrubland. Gammauta is one of the reservoirs most vulnerable to drought drawdown in Sicily's increasingly volatile water years: its small capacity means that even moderate rainfall deficits can reduce storage to critical levels. The Magazzolo river flows south through an agricultural landscape of vineyards, olives, and market gardens before reaching the Mediterranean near Ribera.