Lemme

Lemme
File:Voltaggio-lemme2.jpg The stream near Voltaggio
File:Lemme localizzazione.jpg Location within the SE Piedmont
Origin	Monte Calvo
Mouth	The Orba at Predosa
Basin countries	Italy (Piedmont, Province of Alessandria)
Length	34.3 km
Source elevation	750 m
Avg. discharge	(mouth) 3.1 m3/s
Basin area	180.5

The Lemme is a 35 km torrent, a right tributary of the Orba, which flows through the Province of Alessandria in northern Italy.

Geography

Its source is near Monte Calvo; from there it passes through the communes of Fraconalto, Voltaggio, Carrosio, Gavi, San Cristoforo, Francavilla Bisio, Basaluzzo and finally Predosa where it enters the Orba.

Main tributaries

left hand tributaries

• rio delle Acque Striate;
• rio Morsone: it starts near Monte Tobbio and meets the Lemme in Voltaggio;
• rio Ardana: its upper valley includes Bosio, from which flows northwards meeting the Lemme in Gavi;
• rio Riolo: from San Cristoforo it runs not faraway from the Lemme meeting it near its confluence with the Orba.

right hand tributaries

• rio Carbonasca: from Fraconalto goes till Voltaggio where it meets the Lemme;
• torrente Neirone:
• torrente Riasco: it collects the waters flowing in the area of Pasturana and Tassarolo and meets the Lemme near Francavilla Bisio.

Floods

The Lemme is characterised by an extremely variable discharge; very little water flows during the summer months, but it can also give rise to significant floods, such as those of 1978.

History

The Département du Lemo or Dipartimento del Lemo of Ligurian Republic took its name at the end of the XVIII century from the stream.