Mihoiești Reservoir and Dam

Mihoiești Reservoir lies on the Arieș River in the Apuseni Mountains, just downstream of the confluence of the Arieșul Mare and Arieșul Mic and about 5 km upstream of the town of Câmpeni. The dam is next to the village of Mihoești, which belongs to the town of Câmpeni, Alba County. Work began in 1980. In the first stage (1980-1987) a provisional gravel dam was built, and for a long time the lake operated as a non-permanent reservoir. Between 1996 and 2018 the National Administration "Romanian Waters" (Mureș Water Basin Administration) made the dam safe and turned it into a permanent reservoir; the work was handed over in June 2018. The dam is 215.5 m long at the crest and up to 25.35 m high, and the lake holds a total of 9.9 million cubic metres. The reservoir attenuates floods on the Arieș, protects downstream settlements from flooding and supplies industrial water. The dam crest carries a road used as access to Vidra. Did you know that the dam was originally designed for a 91 million cubic metre lake meant to supply water to the mines of the Apuseni Mountains? When plans to expand the Roșia Poieni copper mine were dropped, a much smaller reservoir was built instead.