Lake Gilău

Lake Gilău is a reservoir on the Someșul Mic river, between the villages of Gilău and Someșu Rece, in Gilău commune, west of Cluj-Napoca. The lake sits right where the Someșul Rece joins the Someșul Cald, the two rivers that form the Someșul Mic. It is the furthest downstream of the four large reservoirs of the hydraulic scheme in the upper Someșul Mic basin (Fântânele, Tarnița, Someșul Cald and Gilău), built from the late 1960s onwards. Gilău was the first of them to be put into service, in 1972. The Gilău I hydropower plant, rated at 6.3 MW, operates at the foot of the dam; its first unit started in 1977 and the other two in 1984. The lake covers about 72 ha, is about 2.3 km long and holds about 4.1 million m³ in total, according to bathymetric measurements published in 2007. It is the main source for the Gilău water treatment plant, which supplies Cluj-Napoca. County road DJ107P, which runs from Gilău towards Someșu Rece, passes along the lake. The lake is a hydraulic structure, not a protected natural area. The hydropower plants on the Someșul Cald and Someșul Mic are operated by Hidroelectrica. Did you know that the water treated at Gilău travels to Cluj-Napoca and the settlements downstream without any pumping, through two pipelines each 16.5 km long, in which it flows by gravity?