1. The damp areas and the
hydrological resources of
the territory

2. Da “Manon Lescaut” Intermezzo del III atto
Water
has fascinated many artists.
The composer Giacomo Puccini inspired by the waters of
Lake Massaciuccoli,
composed some of his best and most famous operas

3. Environmental resources of the Plain of Lucca
Forest areas in the North and South
of the Plain, on the Mountains of Pisa
and on the Pizzorne
The river Serchio
Hills cultivated with grape vines and
olive trees.
Abundant underground layer water and
surface water
The network of tributaries coming
from the hills and flow down from the
Pizzorne mountain into the Bientina
marshlands.
Natural Oasis of
Bottaccio

4. The Plain
The marshlands The river
The Bottaccio

5. What we have studied
Fountains of the
aqueduct
The Nottolini
aqueduct
The Bottaccio Oasis
The river
Serchio and the
public channel
The river bed
of Lake
Bientina
Public
fountains in
Capannori
Ozzeri

6. IN RED THE PUBLIC CHANNEL
The Public conduct built in
1380 has always been
important. Today it still takes
its water from the River San
Gemignano di Moriano and
after a course of 13 Km. it
crosses Lucca from the Norh
West to the South-East.
It generates the irrigation
network of the Plain whose
main canals, nearly all,
.
merge into the Rogio Canal
which also collects waters
from the area of Bientina.
The public conduct and some of
its canals flow into the Ozzeri

7. The river Serchio
It has an annual flow rate of (46 m³/s);
the rate is maintained high due to the
rainfalls of the mountain areas it goes
through and also because of the
permeability of the basin.
The hydroelectric
plant covers about
12% of the local
annual needs.
It is responsible of hydrological disasters such as the 1812 and 2012 floods.
The richest annual period is Autumn, in particular the month of November.

8. Lake Bientina
8
Lake Bientana was the vastest of
the Tuscan lakes and was also
known to the inhabitants of Lucca
with the name Sesto. It had as
main tributary the Auser and as
outflowing streams the Cirecchio
canal and the Serezza
The area is believed to have always been swampy as it is lower than the the river
The lake had an area of permanent water called «clear waters» and a swamp area which
dried in the Summer and even today continues to be swampy.

9. Aerial view of former Lake Bientina after abundant rainfalls

10. Lakes at “Isola Bassa” of Lammari
The area offers to the
citizens new forms of
aggregation thanks to
sports and entertaining
facilities which are
didactically useful and
help people become
environmentally aware by
coming in contact with
recycled material while
relaxing.
Today the area is threatened by the construction of an intense traffic road system from the North
to the South which runs close to these lakes.

11. In Lucca Expansion frames are often called “Barrel” and
the Bottaccio Wood is in fact situated inside the expansion
frame of the Stream Visona of Castelvecchio di Compito.

12. 12
Natural Oasis of Bottaccio
The municipality of Capannori, with city council By-laws ·N° 82 18.07.96 has instituted The
protected Natural Area of local interest (ANPIL) “The Bottaccio” which extends for 16.6 hectares.

13. The Italian WWF with the acquisition of government concessions, has been taking care of the
Bottaccio since 1991 and since then has inserted it in the National system of the Italian WWF
Oasis.
The Municipality of
Bientina (Prov.
Pisa) With by-law
n.50/14.05.98
added to ANPLIN «The
Tanali Wood» on the
Northern side so as to
unite it with Bottaccio.
In this way the two
adjacent Protected areas
are inside the
Marshlands of Bientina.

14. 14
The waters which flow from the Mountains of Pisa, without polluted elements, closed in by
banks, remain in the Bottaccio and so create watery and semi-watery environments in the
wood .
The Bottaccio
completely
relies on the
expansion of
the Stream,
Visona of
Castelvecchio,
which ends
here.
The
Environment