MARANA CAPACIOTTI

Lake Marana Capaciotti is part of the “Ofanto” water scheme, a complex water system that affects the territories of three Italian regions: Campania, Basilicata and Puglia. From the larger project “Passato Prossimo”

The use of the waters of the Ofanto began in the immediate postwar period, starting in the 1950s, with the aim of making up for the region’s “chronic” shortage of water resources and reducing the over-exploitation of groundwater in the Tavoliere and Murge regions. The first work was the Traversa di Santa Venere (Rocchetta Sant’Antonio), built in 1952; the construction of the dam on the Marana Capacciotti (Cerignola) stream by the Capitanata Reclamation Consortium dates back to the late 1960s (1969); currently the lake is part of the “Fiume Ofanto Regional Natural Park.” Dozens of scattered houses built by the Special Section for Land Reform of Puglia Basilcata and Molise are still visible around the dam area.