Please forgive the approach through an industrial area, not very pretty, but the view is worth it once you find it.
Kouris is the largest of a network of 107 reservoirs in Cyprus. It lies at an altitude of 250m and collects the water delivered by the rivers Kouris, Limnatis and Kryos. Furthermore, water from Diarizos river that flows under the venetian bridges at Kelefos and into the Arminou reservoir is then diverted to Kouris via a 14.5 km long connecting tunnel. Kouris reservoir has an overall catchment area of 300 km2 and is located 15 km northwest of the city of Limassol and 6 km west of the village of Ypsonas. The dam has a central clay core zoned earth-fill embankment with a height of 110 metres and a crest length of approximately 550 metres providing a water storage volume of 115 million cubic metres. For its construction the whole village of Alassa had to be relocated to a nearby site overlooking the reservoir at a cost of around CYP£5,000,000. You can find out more about that at Alas a Drowned Church - GC4D9GG.
Its construction was opposed by environmental groups concerned about the effects of water diversion on the Limassol Salt Lake, a wetland located downstream to the rivers and used by migratory birds. It never did do any damage to the salt lake and there's a cache down there too if you want to go and see for yourself - (View From Below - GC4EG67). The dam is part of the Southern Conveyor Project, which carries water from the SW side of Cyprus to the SE part of the island, over a distance of 120 km. The construction of the dam was first proposed by the Cyprus Water Development board in 1968. Following several feasibility studies the French engineering company Sogreah completed the detailed design in 1981. The contract for its construction was awarded in January 1984 to a consortium comprising J&P construction and Impregilo of Italy.
The construction cost amounted to CYP £29,000,000. Part of the funding came from the European Investment Bank. Construction was completed in September 1988. It was officially inaugurated by the then president, George Vassiliou, on 22 April 1989.
Since its construction it has overflowed twice, on March 4, 2004 and on April 6, 2012.
The Fun Part...
According to local legend, the reservoir is home to a cryptid, the Ayia Napa sea monster; other well known cryptids in the world are the Loch Ness Monster and The Yeti. Government officials have started a search for the monster's existence in several locations on the island including Kouris Reservoir as well as Cape Greko (So that's where all the money's going!!). It has been speculated to be something like a crocodile or serpent. One citizen was so adamant he had spotted the creature that he told reporters over a cool Zivania, "I watched this serpent with my own two eyes, this was no mistake". Despite the speculation, no proof has yet been found (I have proof, look at my picture!) and even the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Affairs have drawn a blank on the Kouris mystery (Well there you go then, if they can't find it it can't possibly exist!)
Cache is a 600ml pot with a blue lid, so quite a bit of room for goodies, logbook, pencil and ftf pressie included. The pylon was throwing my GPS around a bit, so I hope my coordinates are good. There's a hint pic and a verbal hint to help you, as you've come this far it'd be a shame to go back empty handed.
Please add lots of pictures of the view, it will make a nice album watching the different seasons, water levels and light conditions.
****Congratulations Mrs P2 - First to Find****