Jatigede Lake, Embankment dam in Sumedang Regency, West Java, Indonesia.
Jatigede Lake is a rock-fill embankment dam on the Cimanuk River in Sumedang Regency, West Java, standing 110 m high and 1,715 m long. Its reservoir holds 980 million cubic meters of water and covers 41.22 square kilometers, with forested hills and a distant mountain range visible across the surface.
The Dutch East Indies government planned three dams on the Cimanuk, with Jatigede as the largest, but local opposition cancelled them. President Soekarno revived the idea in 1963; lack of funds stalled it until the 1990s. Resettlement began in 1982, design in 1988, and construction ran from 2008 to 2015, when impounding started on 31 August 2015.
The reservoir flooded 28 villages across Darmaraja, Wado, Jatigede and Jatinunggal districts, and the first relocations began in 1982. Dozens of Sundanese sites from the 8th century to the Pajajaran kingdom were submerged. The song "Halimun Jatigede", sung by Hayati, was performed as a protest against the flooding of the land.
Visiting the dam is most convenient from nearby towns and settlements in the regency, which offer easy road access to the site. The dry season is the best time to visit, as the water level is lower and the surrounding area is easier to explore on foot.
The dam's crest stands 265 m above sea level, while the reservoir's normal water level is 260 m. The power plant's intake on the right abutment feeds a 3,050 m head-race tunnel before reaching two 55 MW Francis turbines downstream.
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