Loch Mhòr
Loch Mhòr is a loch in Inverness-shire and which occupies much of the wide floor of Stratherrick which runs roughly parallel to Loch Ness, around three miles to its south-east. A generally shallow body of water 587 feet above the level of Loch Ness, Loch Mhòr achieves a depth in excess of 66 feet towards its southern end.
Loch Mhòr was originally two separate lochs, Loch Garth in the south-west and Loch Farraline in the north-east. The water level was raised, so it could be used as a reservoir for a hydro-electric scheme and associated aluminium smelter at Foyers. The smelter closed in 1967, but the Loch is still used as a reservoir for a 300 MW pumped-storage hydroelectricity facility.[1] This joined the two lochs into one, though they are still divided by a causeway carrying a minor road. In its middle reaches, a broad and shallow embayment on its south-eastern shore contains a scatter of islets.
The main rivers into the Loch are the briefly named River E, and some of the flow of the River Fechlin, which has been diverted through an aqueduct.
The waters of the loch empty as the River Gourag below a dam at its south-western end. This short river joins the River Foyers which tumbles over the famed Falls of Foyers and empties into Loch Ness at Foyers.
Location
- Location map:57°14’46"N, 4°25’4"W
References
- ↑ Foyers Hydro-Electric Power Scheme, Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved: 13 November 2015.
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