Alfeios

The Alfeiós is the main stream of the Alpheios Valley drainage system, a dendritic type, which originates on the north slopes of Mount Taygetus in the Peloponnesus of Greece and flows northwest to Olympia, where it turns west and empties into the Gulf of Kyparissia of the Ionian Sea south of Pyrgos after being impounded by the Flokas Dam, a hydroelectric facility. The entry to the gulf, which passes through an agricultural area and through an unpopulated, sandy beach partially blocked by a spit, is hydrologically unremarkable, with the water being too shallow for all but the smallest craft to navigate.

The modern Alpheios has little similarity to the ancient Alpheios. Many sections have been dammed; large sections have been straightened by embankments; flood control works have been built; water for municipal use and irrigation has been diverted all along the course; some sections have been used for gravel mining; and waste water, fertilizer, and pesticides have polluted it from one end to the other. It was vital for the government to establish frequent monitoring and construct substructure in order to make significant judgments about the river's fate.

Length: 112 km (70 mi)