Draft:Lake Venerocolo

Lake Venerocolo
Location	Edolo, Province of Brescia, Lombardy, Italy
Coordinates	46.1775°N 10.4957°E / 46.1775; 10.4957
Type	Artificial
Primary inflows	None
Primary outflows	Torrente Venerocolo
Basin countries	Italy
Surface area	0.198 km2 (0.076 sq mi)
Surface elevation	2,540 m (8,330 ft)

The Lake Venerocolo is an artificial lake located in Val d'Avio, a lateral valley of Val Camonica, in the Province of Brescia.

Situated at 2,540 meters altitude at the foot of the north face of the Adamello, it is the highest among the numerous artificial reservoirs of the massif and one of the highest in the entire Alpine chain.

Built for hydroelectric purposes, it is supported by a buttress dam made of concrete, constructed in 1959. The dam is 27 meters high, 380 meters long at the crest, and has a volume of 42,000 cubic meters.

The reservoir, at full capacity, covers just under 20 ha and can hold up to 2.5 million cubic meters of water, mostly from spring snowmelt. Due to its high altitude, it remains frozen on the surface for many months of the year, being completely free of ice only during the summer period.

A peculiar characteristic of this and other artificial reservoirs, such as Lake Benedetto, is the light, grayish color of the waters. This is due to the significant amount of silt in suspension, a product derived from the erosion of the tonalite-based rocks that form the lake bed and the framework of the surrounding mountains.

Lake Venerocolo represents the culminating reservoir of an ambitious hydroelectric system, consisting, in addition to itself, of the Lake Pantano, Lake Benedetto, and Lake d'Avio. All these reservoirs are interconnected and supply the hydroelectric power plant in Edolo. However, the water from Lake Venerocolo and Lake Pantano, which are the two reservoirs located at the highest altitude, also feeds a small power plant located on the shores of Lake Benedetto.

Access

The dam supporting the lake, with the north face of the Adamello in the background.

Lake Venerocolo can only be reached on foot via trails, as the cableway that reaches it from Dosso Lavedole is exclusively for the use of dam maintenance personnel.

The most direct route from the valley floor starts from Temù and ascends the entire Val d'Avio, passing by the various lakes. Up to Malga Caldea (1,584 m), it is also accessible by car, though caution is advised due to the road surface conditions; there is a parking area at this location with a capacity for a few dozen vehicles. The itinerary then climbs the rocky step that separates the lower valley from the basin where the first three lakes are located, follows them on a gentle slope, and then ascends steeply up the final rocky step. This section of the route, used by the Alpini during the White War to carry supplies to the front on their shoulders, was named by them “il Calvario”.

The route carries the trail marker number 11 of the Italian Alpine Club, Val Camonica section. Trail number 1, better known as the Alta Via dell’Adamello, stops at the Rifugio Giuseppe Garibaldi, located on the northern shore of the lake.

References

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Categories:

• Lakes of Lombardy
• Lakes of Italy
• Lombardy