Argaka Dam

Argaka Dam is a small rockfill dam on the Makounta river in the Paphos district of western Cyprus, near the villages of Argaka and Makounta on the coastal plain of Chrysochou Bay. Completed in 1964, it is one of the oldest of the island's modern dams, built in the first wave of water projects that followed Cypriot independence, when the government set out to capture winter runoff before it drained into the sea.

The embankment stands 41 metres high and impounds a reservoir with a capacity of 0.99 million cubic metres (MCM). By Cypriot standards it is a modest structure, dwarfed by the nearby Evretou reservoir, yet it remains a working part of the Chrysochou region's irrigation network. Its stored water supports the citrus orchards, market gardens and other smallholdings of the surrounding coastal strip through the dry summer months.

Beyond its agricultural role, the reservoir has become a local recreation spot. Set against the foothills of the Paphos forest, it is a popular destination for freshwater fishing and lakeside picnics, and the quiet road up from the coast makes it an easy detour for visitors exploring the Polis and Chrysochou area. Together with the Pomos and Agia Marina dams of the same era, Argaka illustrates the small-scale, village-level water engineering that preceded Cyprus's later giant dams.