Flooding swamps Lasithi Plateau farmland as questions emerge over damaged floodgate and reduced tunnel flow
Heavy rain has left the farming plain of the Lasithi Plateau in eastern Crete submerged, with thousands of acres of crops under water, according to a report by cretaone.gr. The site says producers face the loss of a year’s income and is raising questions about the condition of the drainage infrastructure that serves the plateau.
The report distinguishes between two separate pieces of infrastructure: a floodgate at a site called Chonos, on the plateau itself, and two valves inside the Lasithi Plateau Tunnel, which channels water toward the Aposelemis reservoir.
Floodgate at Chonos reported damaged
At Chonos, a floodgate allows water to be directed toward natural sinkholes in the area, helping relieve pressure on the flooded plain. According to information and testimonies cited by cretaone.gr, as water levels rose dangerously and crops began flooding, residents attempted to open the floodgate themselves to release water toward the sinkholes. During that attempt, the same sources say, the mechanism was damaged and the floodgate broke.
Cretaone.gr says the incident needs official clarification, including whether the floodgate was functional before the flood, whether qualified personnel were present, and whether an emergency operating plan existed as water levels rose.
Reduced flow reported through tunnel valves
The Lasithi Plateau Tunnel serves two functions, according to the report: transferring floodwater from the plateau’s drainage basin to the Aposelemis reservoir, which has previously received large inflows during storms, and helping drain the plateau itself. Citing technical data, cretaone.gr says the two valves combined are designed to allow a flow of at least 14 cubic metres per second — around 50,400 cubic metres per hour, or roughly 1.2 million cubic metres over 24 hours.
However, according to information cited by the outlet that it says requires official confirmation from the Organization for the Development of Crete (OAK), the tunnel is currently operating at a flow of approximately 20,000 to 25,000 cubic metres per hour — roughly half of the stated design capacity.
Based on that reported flow, cretaone.gr estimates that draining the plateau currently takes around 20 days, compared with a theoretical figure of about 10 days if both valves operated at full design capacity under the same hydrological conditions. The outlet stresses that this estimate needs confirmation from OAK using actual hydrological data.
Similar questions raised in April
Cretaone.gr notes that the operability of the tunnel’s valves was already a subject of discussion in April, when a fault was reported in one of the two valves and its effect on water conveyance capacity was raised at the time. The outlet says it is unclear whether that fault was fully repaired, whether a new fault has since appeared, or whether a different technical issue is involved.
The report also cites unspecified references to the period when Evangelos Mamagkakis oversaw management of the hydraulic works, during which, it says, both valves were reported to be operating and the tunnel recorded significantly higher flows than those currently reported.
Reservoir also fed by other sources
The report clarifies that the Aposelemis reservoir is not supplied solely by the Lasithi Plateau Tunnel. Water also reaches the reservoir through natural runoff, streams and technical works within the Aposelemis drainage basin itself, separate from any inflow attributed specifically to the tunnel.
Cretaone.gr is calling on OAK to publish the tunnel’s actual hourly flow rates during the flood, the operational status of each valve, maintenance and fault records, and the volumes of water that reached the reservoir via the tunnel compared with the surrounding drainage basin. The report had not received an official response from OAK at the time of publication.
The flooding on the plateau follows a wider spell of severe weather across Crete, after which the Lasithi Plateau municipality declared a state of emergency over damage to roads and crops caused by the storm.
