126-716: Waghur Dam is an earthfill dam located on the Waghur river near Kandari and Varadsim, Jalgaon district in the Indian state of Maharashtra . The Waghur river flows from its source near Ajanta through the Khandesh region. Here the famous World Heritage Site , Ajanta Caves sits on the banks of the river. Work on this major irrigation project was taken up by the Water Resources Department of Maharashtra and began construction in 1978. The dam's main purpose
252-511: A karstic spring near 'Ayn al-'Arus and flows due south until it reaches the Euphrates at the city of Raqqa . In terms of length, drainage basin and discharge, the Khabur is the largest of these three. Its main karstic springs are located around Ra's al-'Ayn , from where the Khabur flows southeast past Al-Hasakah , where the river turns south and drains into the Euphrates near Busayrah . Once
378-401: A balancing compression stress in the downstream face, providing additional economy. For this type of dam, it is essential to have an impervious foundation with high bearing strength. Permeable foundations have a greater likelihood of generating uplift pressures under the dam. Uplift pressures are hydrostatic pressures caused by the water pressure of the reservoir pushing up against the bottom of
504-547: A bilateral treaty to that effect was signed between the two countries. Another bilateral agreement from 1989 between Syria and Iraq settles the amount of water flowing into Iraq at 60 percent of the amount that Syria receives from Turkey. In 2008, Turkey, Syria and Iraq instigated the Joint Trilateral Committee (JTC) on the management of the water in the Tigris–Euphrates basin and on 3 September 2009
630-544: A dam as "jurisdictional" or "non-jurisdictional" varies by location. In the United States, each state defines what constitutes a non-jurisdictional dam. In the state of Colorado a non-jurisdictional dam is defined as a dam creating a reservoir with a capacity of 100 acre-feet or less and a surface area of 20 acres or less and with a height measured as defined in Rules 4.2.5.1. and 4.2.19 of 10 feet or less. In contrast,
756-499: A dam that directed waterflow. It was finished in 251 BC. A large earthen dam, made by Sunshu Ao , the prime minister of Chu (state) , flooded a valley in modern-day northern Anhui Province that created an enormous irrigation reservoir (100 km (62 mi) in circumference), a reservoir that is still present today. Roman dam construction was characterized by "the Romans' ability to plan and organize engineering construction on
882-601: A distance of less than 600 kilometres (370 mi). Once the Euphrates enters the Upper Mesopotamian plains, its grade drops significantly; within Syria the river falls 163 metres (535 ft) while over the last stretch between Hīt and the Shatt al-Arab the river drops only 55 metres (180 ft). The Euphrates receives most of its water in the form of rainfall and melting snow, resulting in peak volumes during
1008-493: A distinct vertical curvature to it as well lending it the vague appearance of a concave lens as viewed from downstream. The multiple-arch dam consists of a number of single-arch dams with concrete buttresses as the supporting abutments, as for example the Daniel-Johnson Dam , Québec, Canada. The multiple-arch dam does not require as many buttresses as the hollow gravity type but requires a good rock foundation because
1134-480: A further agreement was signed to this effect. On 15 April 2014, Turkey began to reduce the flow of the Euphrates into Syria and Iraq. The flow was cut off completely on 16 May 2014 resulting in the Euphrates terminating at the Turkish–Syrian border. This was in violation of an agreement reached in 1987 in which Turkey committed to releasing a minimum of 500 cubic metres (18,000 cu ft) of water per second at
1260-478: A grand scale." Roman planners introduced the then-novel concept of large reservoir dams which could secure a permanent water supply for urban settlements over the dry season. Their pioneering use of water-proof hydraulic mortar and particularly Roman concrete allowed for much larger dam structures than previously built, such as the Lake Homs Dam , possibly the largest water barrier to that date, and
1386-510: A low 233,000 square kilometres (90,000 sq mi) to a high 766,000 square kilometres (296,000 sq mi). Recent estimates put the basin area at 388,000 square kilometres (150,000 sq mi), 444,000 square kilometres (171,000 sq mi) and 579,314 square kilometres (223,674 sq mi). The greater part of the Euphrates basin is located in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. According to both Daoudy and Frenken, Turkey's share
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#17327648136651512-511: A minor tributary of the Nieuwe Maas . The central square of Amsterdam, covering the original site of the 800-year-old dam, still carries the name Dam Square . The Romans were the first to build arch dams , where the reaction forces from the abutment stabilizes the structure from the external hydrostatic pressure , but it was only in the 19th century that the engineering skills and construction materials available were capable of building
1638-509: A notable increase in interest in SHPs. Couto and Olden (2018) conducted a global study and found 82,891 small hydropower plants (SHPs) operating or under construction. Technical definitions of SHPs, such as their maximum generation capacity, dam height, reservoir area, etc., vary by country. A dam is non-jurisdictional when its size (usually "small") excludes it from being subject to certain legal regulations. The technical criteria for categorising
1764-649: A profession based on a rigorously applied scientific theoretical framework. This new emphasis was centered around the engineering faculties of universities in France and in the United Kingdom. William John Macquorn Rankine at the University of Glasgow pioneered the theoretical understanding of dam structures in his 1857 paper On the Stability of Loose Earth . Rankine theory provided a good understanding of
1890-566: A settling pond, and a 1,000 m (3,300 ft) canal to a distribution tank. These works were not finished until 325 AD when the dam permitted the irrigation of 25,000 acres (100 km ). Eflatun Pınar is a Hittite dam and spring temple near Konya , Turkey. It is thought to date from the Hittite empire between the 15th and 13th centuries BC. The Kallanai is constructed of unhewn stone, over 300 m (980 ft) long, 4.5 m (15 ft) high and 20 m (66 ft) wide, across
2016-408: A whole dam itself, that dam also would be held in place by gravity, i.e., there is no tension in the upstream face of the dam holding the top of the dam down. The designer does this because it is usually more practical to make a dam of material essentially just piled up than to make the material stick together against vertical tension. The shape that prevents tension in the upstream face also eliminates
2142-488: Is 28 percent, Syria's is 17 percent and that of Iraq is 40 percent. Isaev and Mikhailova estimate the percentages of the drainage basin lying within Turkey, Syria and Iraq at 33, 20 and 47 percent respectively. Some sources estimate that approximately 15 percent of the drainage basin is located within Saudi Arabia , while a small part falls inside the borders of Kuwait . Finally, some sources also include Jordan in
2268-578: Is also identified as the Euphrates. The early occupation of the Euphrates basin was limited to its upper reaches; that is, the area that is popularly known as the Fertile Crescent . Acheulean stone artifacts have been found in the Sajur basin and in the El Kowm oasis in the central Syrian steppe ; the latter together with remains of Homo erectus that were dated to 450,000 years old. In
2394-520: Is an important source of irrigation and drinking water. It was planned that 640,000 hectares (2,500 sq mi) should be irrigated from Lake Assad, but in 2000 only 100,000–124,000 hectares (390–480 sq mi) had been realized. Syria also built three smaller dams on the Khabur and its tributaries. With the implementation of the Southeastern Anatolia Project ( Turkish : Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi , or GAP ) in
2520-614: Is considered to be the earthly manifestation of the heavenly yardna or flowing river (similar to the Yazidi concept of Lalish being the earthly manifestation of its heavenly counterpart, or the ‘Sacred House’ Kaaba in Mecca being the earthly manifestation of the heavenly Al-Bayt Al-Mamur). The earliest references to the Euphrates come from cuneiform texts found in Shuruppak and pre- Sargonic Nippur in southern Iraq and date to
2646-424: Is dependent on the strength of the side wall abutments, hence not only should the arch be well seated on the side walls but also the character of the rock should be carefully inspected. Two types of single-arch dams are in use, namely the constant-angle and the constant-radius dam. The constant-radius type employs the same face radius at all elevations of the dam, which means that as the channel grows narrower towards
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#17327648136652772-455: Is intended to drain the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris south of Baghdad to prevent soil salinization from irrigation. It also allows large freight barges to navigate up to Baghdad. The construction of the dams and irrigation schemes on the Euphrates has had a significant impact on the environment and society of each riparian country. The dams constructed as part of GAP – in both
2898-766: Is said to be one of the future minor signs of the coming of Judgement Day : In the Christian Bible , the Euphrates River is mentioned in Revelation 16:12 , in the final book of the New Testament . Author, John of Patmos writes about the Euphrates river drying up as part of a series of events that foretell the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The river Phrath mentioned in Genesis 2:14
3024-471: Is sloped the distribution is more complicated. The normal component of the weight of the arch ring may be taken by the arch action, while the normal hydrostatic pressure will be distributed as described above. For this type of dam, firm reliable supports at the abutments (either buttress or canyon side wall) are more important. The most desirable place for an arch dam is a narrow canyon with steep side walls composed of sound rock. The safety of an arch dam
3150-399: Is the more widely used of the two, though the hollow dam is frequently more economical to construct. Grand Coulee Dam is a solid gravity dam and Braddock Locks & Dam is a hollow gravity dam. A gravity dam can be combined with an arch dam into an arch-gravity dam for areas with massive amounts of water flow but less material available for a pure gravity dam. The inward compression of
3276-590: Is the thinnest arch dam in the world and one of the oldest arch dams in Asia. It was constructed some 700 years ago in Tabas county , South Khorasan Province , Iran . It stands 60 meters tall, and in crest is a one meter width. Some historians believe the dam was built by Shāh Abbās I, whereas others believe that he repaired it. In the Netherlands , a low-lying country, dams were often built to block rivers to regulate
3402-446: Is to supply water for irrigation purpose in downstream area. Canals were built along the left and right banks of the river to meet irrigation needs. In 2006, record rainfall in the catchment area of Waghur was recorded. Nearly 40 TMC of water spilled over the dam. As of 2008, the dam's reservoir had storage capacity of 8.5 TMC. Twenty additional spill gates were planned for the dam, increasing storage capacity by 1.5 TMC. The project
3528-612: Is ultimately derived from cuneiform 𒌓𒄒𒉣; read as Buranun in Sumerian and Purattu in Akkadian ; many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word and an Akkadian word that mean the same. The Akkadian Purattu has been perpetuated in Semitic languages (cf. Arabic : الفرات al-Furāt ; Syriac : ̇ܦܪܬ Pǝrāṯ , Hebrew : פְּרָת Pǝrāṯ ) and in other nearby languages of
3654-657: The Fayum Depression to the Nile in Middle Egypt. Two dams called Ha-Uar running east–west were built to retain water during the annual flood and then release it to surrounding lands. The lake called Mer-wer or Lake Moeris covered 1,700 km (660 sq mi) and is known today as Birket Qarun. By the mid-late third millennium BC, an intricate water-management system in Dholavira in modern-day India
3780-579: The Harbaqa Dam , both in Roman Syria . The highest Roman dam was the Subiaco Dam near Rome ; its record height of 50 m (160 ft) remained unsurpassed until its accidental destruction in 1305. Roman engineers made routine use of ancient standard designs like embankment dams and masonry gravity dams. Apart from that, they displayed a high degree of inventiveness, introducing most of
3906-585: The National Inventory of Dams (NID). Euphrates The Euphrates ( / juː ˈ f r eɪ t iː z / yoo- FRAY -teez ; see below ) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia . Together with the Tigris , it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( lit. ' the land between the rivers ' ). Originating in Turkey ,
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4032-521: The Ramadi Barrage and the nearby Abu Dibbis Regulator, which serve to regulate the flow regime of the Euphrates and to discharge excess flood water into the depression that is now Lake Habbaniyah . Iraq's largest dam on the Euphrates is the Haditha Dam ; a 9-kilometre-long (5.6 mi) earth-fill dam creating Lake Qadisiyah . Syria and Turkey built their first dams in the Euphrates in
4158-754: The Sajur , the Balikh and the Khabur . These rivers rise in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains along the Syro–Turkish border and add comparatively little water to the Euphrates. The Sajur is the smallest of these tributaries; emerging from two streams near Gaziantep and draining the plain around Manbij before emptying into the reservoir of the Tishrin Dam . The Balikh receives most of its water from
4284-585: The Sassanid Empire (226–638 AD), until the Islamic conquest of the mid 7th century AD. The Battle of Karbala took place near the banks of this river in 680 AD. In the north, the river served as a border between Greater Armenia (331 BC–428 AD) and Lesser Armenia (the latter became a Roman province in the 1st century BC). After World War I , the borders in Southwest Asia were redrawn in
4410-681: The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) , when the Ottoman Empire was partitioned . Clause 109 of the treaty stipulated that the three riparian states of the Euphrates (at that time Turkey, France for its Syrian mandate and the United Kingdom for its mandate of Iraq ) had to reach a mutual agreement on the use of its water and on the construction of any hydraulic installation. An agreement between Turkey and Iraq signed in 1946 required Turkey to report to Iraq on any hydraulic changes it made on
4536-645: The University of Oxford published a study of the cost of large dams – based on the largest existing dataset – documenting significant cost overruns for a majority of dams and questioning whether benefits typically offset costs for such dams. Dams can be formed by human agency, natural causes, or even by the intervention of wildlife such as beavers . Man-made dams are typically classified according to their size (height), intended purpose or structure. Based on structure and material used, dams are classified as easily created without materials, arch-gravity dams , embankment dams or masonry dams , with several subtypes. In
4662-564: The 15th and 13th centuries BC. The Kallanai Dam in South India, built in the 2nd century AD, is one of the oldest water regulating structures still in use. Roman engineers built dams with advanced techniques and materials, such as hydraulic mortar and Roman concrete, which allowed for larger structures. They introduced reservoir dams, arch-gravity dams, arch dams, buttress dams, and multiple arch buttress dams. In Iran, bridge dams were used for hydropower and water-raising mechanisms. During
4788-476: The 1970s, Turkey launched an ambitious plan to harness the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates for irrigation and hydroelectricity production and provide an economic stimulus to its southeastern provinces. GAP affects a total area of 75,000 square kilometres (29,000 sq mi) and approximately 7 million people; representing about 10 percent of Turkey's total surface area and population, respectively. When completed, GAP will consist of 22 dams – including
4914-437: The 1970s. Data on Euphrates discharge collected after 1990 show the impact of the construction of the numerous dams in the Euphrates and of the increased withdrawal of water for irrigation. Average discharge at Hīt after 1990 has dropped to 356 cubic metres (12,600 cu ft) per second (11.2 cubic kilometres (2.7 cu mi) per year). The seasonal variability has equally changed. The pre-1990 peak volume recorded at Hīt
5040-650: The 1970s. The Tabqa Dam in Syria was completed in 1973 while Turkey finished the Keban Dam, a prelude to the immense Southeastern Anatolia Project , in 1974. Since then, Syria has built two more dams in the Euphrates, the Baath Dam and the Tishrin Dam, and plans to build a fourth dam – the Halabiye Dam – between Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor . The Tabqa Dam is Syria's largest dam and its reservoir ( Lake Assad )
5166-562: The 1st millennium BCE. In the centuries to come, control of the wider Euphrates basin shifted from the Neo-Assyrian Empire (which collapsed between 612 and 599 BC) to the short lived Median Empire (612–546 BC) and equally brief Neo-Babylonian Empire (612–539 BC) in the last years of the 7th century BC, and eventually to the Achaemenid Empire (539–333 BC). The Achaemenid Empire was in turn overrun by Alexander
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5292-417: The 4th millennium BCE, saw the emergence of truly urban settlements across Mesopotamia. Cities like Tell Brak and Uruk grew to over 100 hectares (250 acres) in size and displayed monumental architecture. The spread of southern Mesopotamian pottery, architecture and sealings far into Turkey and Iran has generally been interpreted as the material reflection of a widespread trade system aimed at providing
5418-483: The 5th millennium BCE, or late Ubaid period , northeastern Syria was dotted by small villages, although some of them grew to a size of over 10 hectares (25 acres). In Iraq, sites like Eridu and Ur were already occupied during the Ubaid period. Clay boat models found at Tell Mashnaqa along the Khabur indicate that riverine transport was already practiced during this period. The Uruk period , roughly coinciding with
5544-544: The British began construction in 1898. The project was designed by Sir William Willcocks and involved several eminent engineers of the time, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird , whose firm, John Aird & Co. , was the main contractor. Capital and financing were furnished by Ernest Cassel . When initially constructed between 1899 and 1902, nothing of its scale had ever before been attempted; on completion, it
5670-487: The British to nickname it the "Tigris salmon." The Euphrates softshell turtle is an endangered soft-shelled turtle that is limited to the Tigris–Euphrates river system. The Neo-Assyrian palace reliefs from the 1st millennium BCE depict lion and bull hunts in fertile landscapes. Sixteenth to nineteenth century European travellers in the Syrian Euphrates basin reported on an abundance of animals living in
5796-520: The Colorado River is a constant-angle arch dam. A similar type is the double-curvature or thin-shell dam. Wildhorse Dam near Mountain City, Nevada , in the United States is an example of the type. This method of construction minimizes the amount of concrete necessary for construction but transmits large loads to the foundation and abutments. The appearance is similar to a single-arch dam but with
5922-628: The Colorado River. By 1997, there were an estimated 800,000 dams worldwide, with some 40,000 of them over 15 meters high. Early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East . Dams were used to control water levels, for Mesopotamia's weather affected the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan , 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of
6048-740: The Euphrates Valley would have supported a riverine forest . Species characteristic of this type of forest include the Oriental plane , the Euphrates poplar , the tamarisk , the ash and various wetland plants. Among the fish species in the Tigris–Euphrates basin, the family of the Cyprinidae are the most common, with 34 species out of 52 in total. Among the Cyprinids, the mangar has good recreational fishing qualities, leading
6174-508: The Euphrates and the Tigris basins – have affected 382 villages and almost 200,000 people have been resettled elsewhere. The largest number of people was displaced by the building of the Atatürk Dam, which alone affected 55,300 people. A survey among those who were displaced showed that the majority were unhappy with their new situation and that the compensation they had received was considered insufficient. The flooding of Lake Assad led to
6300-548: The Euphrates and the Tigris that have since dried up, but that can still be identified from remote sensing imagery. A similar development took place in Upper Mesopotamia , Subartu and Assyria , although only from the mid 3rd millennium and on a smaller scale than in Lower Mesopotamia. Sites like Ebla , Mari and Tell Leilan grew to prominence for the first time during this period. Large parts of
6426-483: The Euphrates basin has significantly degraded the landscape, patches of original vegetation remain. The steady drop in annual rainfall from the sources of the Euphrates toward the Persian Gulf is a strong determinant for the vegetation that can be supported. In its upper reaches the Euphrates flows through the mountains of Southeast Turkey and their southern foothills which support a xeric woodland . Plant species in
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#17327648136656552-566: The Euphrates basin were for the first time united under a single ruler during the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC) and Ur III empires, which controlled – either directly or indirectly through vassals – large parts of modern-day Iraq and northeastern Syria. Following their collapse, the Old Assyrian Empire (1975–1750 BCE) and Mari asserted their power over northeast Syria and northern Mesopotamia, while southern Mesopotamia
6678-542: The Euphrates enters Iraq, there are no more natural tributaries to the Euphrates, although canals connecting the Euphrates basin with the Tigris basin exist. The drainage basins of the Kara Su and the Murat River cover an area of 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi) and 40,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi), respectively. Estimates of the area of the Euphrates drainage basin vary widely; from
6804-609: The Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq , which empties into the Persian Gulf . The Euphrates is the fifteenth-longest river in Asia and the longest in Western Asia, at about 2,780 km (1,730 mi), with a drainage area of 440,000 km (170,000 sq mi) that covers six countries. The term Euphrates derives from the Greek Euphrátēs ( Εὐφρᾱ́της ), adapted from Old Persian : 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢 , romanized: Ufrātuš , itself from Elamite : 𒌑𒅁𒊏𒌅𒅖 , romanized: Úipratuiš . The Elamite name
6930-412: The Euphrates valley, especially in Turkey and Syria, has led to the flooding of many archaeological sites and other places of cultural significance. Although concerted efforts have been made to record or save as much of the endangered cultural heritage as possible, many sites are probably lost forever. The combined GAP projects on the Turkish Euphrates have led to major international efforts to document
7056-402: The Great , who defeated the last king Darius III and died in Babylon in 323 BCE. Subsequent to this, the region came under the control of the Seleucid Empire (312–150 BC), Parthian Empire (150–226 AD) (during which several Neo-Assyrian states such as Adiabene came to rule certain regions of the Euphrates), and was fought over by the Roman Empire , its succeeding Byzantine Empire and
7182-403: The Hittites, Mitanni and Kassite Babylonians. Following the end of the Middle Assyrian Empire in the late 11th century BCE, struggles broke out between Babylonia and Assyria over the control of the Iraqi Euphrates basin. The Neo-Assyrian Empire (935–605 BC) eventually emerged victorious out of this conflict and also succeeded in gaining control of the northern Euphrates basin in the first half of
7308-410: The Kara Su and the Murat Su rise northwest from Lake Van at elevations of 3,290 metres (10,790 ft) and 3,520 metres (11,550 ft) amsl , respectively. At the location of the Keban Dam , the two rivers, now combined into the Euphrates, have dropped to an elevation of 693 metres (2,274 ft) amsl. From Keban to the Syrian–Turkish border, the river drops another 368 metres (1,207 ft) over
7434-469: The Keban Dam – and 19 power plants and provide irrigation water to 1,700,000 hectares (6,600 sq mi) of agricultural land, which is about 20 percent of the irrigable land in Turkey. C. 910,000 hectares (3,500 sq mi) of this irrigated land is located in the Euphrates basin. By far the largest dam in GAP is the Atatürk Dam , located c. 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest of Şanlıurfa . This 184-and-1,820-metre-long (604 and 5,971 ft) dam
7560-557: The Mesopotamian cities with raw materials. Habuba Kabira on the Syrian Euphrates is a prominent example of a settlement that is interpreted as an Uruk colony. During the Jemdet Nasr (3600–3100 BCE) and Early Dynastic periods (3100–2350 BCE), southern Mesopotamia experienced a growth in the number and size of settlements, suggesting strong population growth. These settlements, including Sumero-Akkadian sites like Sippar , Uruk, Adab and Kish , were organized in competing city-states . Many of these cities were located along canals of
7686-415: The Middle Ages, dams were built in the Netherlands to regulate water levels and prevent sea intrusion. In the 19th century, large-scale arch dams were constructed around the British Empire, marking advances in dam engineering techniques. The era of large dams began with the construction of the Aswan Low Dam in Egypt in 1902. The Hoover Dam, a massive concrete arch-gravity dam, was built between 1931 and 1936 on
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#17327648136657812-445: The Middle East for water control. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan , dating to 3,000 BC. Egyptians also built dams, such as Sadd-el-Kafara Dam for flood control. In modern-day India, Dholavira had an intricate water-management system with 16 reservoirs and dams. The Great Dam of Marib in Yemen, built between 1750 and 1700 BC, was an engineering wonder, and Eflatun Pinar, a Hittite dam and spring temple in Turkey, dates to
7938-463: The Murat River to the confluence with the Tigris at 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi), of which 1,230 kilometres (760 mi) is in Turkey , 710 kilometres (440 mi) in Syria and 1,060 kilometres (660 mi) in Iraq. The same figures are given by Isaev and Mikhailova. The length of the Shatt al-Arab , which connects the Euphrates and the Tigris with the Persian Gulf , is given by various sources as 145–195 kilometres (90–121 mi). Both
8064-562: The Syro–Iraqi border the Euphrates flows through a steppe landscape. This steppe is characterised by white wormwood ( Artemisia herba-alba ) and Amaranthaceae . Throughout history, this zone has been heavily overgrazed due to the practicing of sheep and goat pastoralism by its inhabitants. Southeast of the border between Syria and Iraq starts true desert . This zone supports either no vegetation at all or small pockets of Chenopodiaceae or Poa sinaica . Although today nothing of it survives due to human interference, research suggests that
8190-417: The Taurus Mountains and the upper part of the Syrian Euphrates valley, early permanent villages such as Abu Hureyra – at first occupied by hunter-gatherers but later by some of the earliest farmers , Jerf el Ahmar, Mureybet and Nevalı Çori became established from the eleventh millennium BCE onward. In the absence of irrigation, these early farming communities were limited to areas where rainfed agriculture
8316-408: The Tigris–Euphrates river system, and allowed Iraq to construct dams on Turkish territory to manage the flow of the Euphrates. The river featured on the coat of arms of Iraq from 1932 to 1959. Turkey and Syria completed their first dams on the Euphrates – the Keban Dam and the Tabqa Dam, respectively – within one year of each other and filling of the reservoirs commenced in 1975. At the same time,
8442-454: The Turkish–Syrian border. During the Syrian civil war and the Iraqi Civil War , much of the Euphrates was controlled by the Islamic State from 2014 until 2017, when the terrorist group began losing land and was eventually defeated territorially in Syria at the Battle of Baghouz and in Iraq in the Western Iraq offensive respectively. Throughout history, the Euphrates has been of vital importance to those living along its course. With
8568-437: The United States alone, there are approximately 2,000,000 or more "small" dams that are not included in the Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of dams . Records of small dams are kept by state regulatory agencies and therefore information about small dams is dispersed and uneven in geographic coverage. Countries worldwide consider small hydropower plants (SHPs) important for their energy strategies, and there has been
8694-457: The World Commission on Dams also includes in the "large" category, dams which are between 5 and 15 m (16 and 49 ft) high with a reservoir capacity of more than 3 million cubic metres (2,400 acre⋅ft ). Hydropower dams can be classified as either "high-head" (greater than 30 m in height) or "low-head" (less than 30 m in height). As of 2021 , ICOLD's World Register of Dams contains 58,700 large dam records. The tallest dam in
8820-403: The arch dam, stability is obtained by a combination of arch and gravity action. If the upstream face is vertical the entire weight of the dam must be carried to the foundation by gravity, while the distribution of the normal hydrostatic pressure between vertical cantilever and arch action will depend upon the stiffness of the dam in a vertical and horizontal direction. When the upstream face
8946-422: The archaeological and cultural heritage of the endangered parts of the valley. Especially the flooding of Zeugma with its unique Roman mosaics by the reservoir of the Birecik Dam has generated much controversy in both the Turkish and international press. The construction of the Tabqa Dam in Syria led to a large international campaign coordinated by UNESCO to document the heritage that would disappear under
9072-555: The area was hit by severe drought and river flow toward Iraq was reduced from 15.3 cubic kilometres (3.7 cu mi) in 1973 to 9.4 cubic kilometres (2.3 cu mi) in 1975. This led to an international crisis during which Iraq threatened to bomb the Tabqa Dam. An agreement was eventually reached between Syria and Iraq after intervention by Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union . A similar crisis, although not escalating to
9198-467: The area, many of which have become rare or even extinct. Species like gazelle , onager and the now-extinct Arabian ostrich lived in the steppe bordering the Euphrates valley, while the valley itself was home to the wild boar . Carnivorous species include the wolf , the golden jackal , the red fox , the leopard and the lion. The Syrian brown bear can be found in the mountains of Southeast Turkey. The presence of Eurasian beaver has been attested in
9324-666: The back of the dam through a large pipe to drive a water wheel and watermill . In the 10th century, Al-Muqaddasi described several dams in Persia. He reported that one in Ahwaz was more than 910 m (3,000 ft) long, and that it had many water-wheels raising the water into aqueducts through which it flowed into reservoirs of the city. Another one, the Band-i-Amir Dam, provided irrigation for 300 villages. Shāh Abbās Arch (Persian: طاق شاه عباس), also known as Kurit Dam ,
9450-472: The bone assemblage of the prehistoric site of Tell Abu Hureyra in Syria, but the beaver has never been sighted in historical times. The Hindiya Barrage on the Iraqi Euphrates, based on plans by British civil engineer William Willcocks and finished in 1913, was the first modern water diversion structure built in the Tigris–Euphrates river system. The Hindiya Barrage was followed in the 1950s by
9576-491: The bottom of the dam the central angle subtended by the face of the dam becomes smaller. Jones Falls Dam , in Canada, is a constant radius dam. In a constant-angle dam, also known as a variable radius dam, this subtended angle is kept constant and the variation in distance between the abutments at various levels is taken care of by varying the radii. Constant-radius dams are much less common than constant-angle dams. Parker Dam on
9702-402: The buttress loads are heavy. In a gravity dam, the force that holds the dam in place against the push from the water is Earth's gravity pulling down on the mass of the dam. The water presses laterally (downstream) on the dam, tending to overturn the dam by rotating about its toe (a point at the bottom downstream side of the dam). The dam's weight counteracts that force, tending to rotate the dam
9828-501: The capital Amman . This gravity dam featured an originally 9-metre-high (30 ft) and 1 m-wide (3.3 ft) stone wall, supported by a 50 m-wide (160 ft) earthen rampart. The structure is dated to 3000 BC. However, the oldest continuously operational dam is Lake Homs Dam , built in Syria between 1319-1304 BC. The Ancient Egyptian Sadd-el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, about 25 km (16 mi) south of Cairo ,
9954-517: The city and the river. The Euphrates is the longest river of Western Asia . It emerges from the confluence of the Kara Su or Western Euphrates (450 kilometres (280 mi)) and the Murat Su or Eastern Euphrates (650 kilometres (400 mi)) 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) upstream from the town of Keban in southeastern Turkey. Daoudy and Frenken put the length of the Euphrates from the source of
10080-646: The city. The masonry arch dam wall was designed by Lieutenant Percy Simpson who was influenced by the advances in dam engineering techniques made by the Royal Engineers in India . The dam cost £17,000 and was completed in 1856 as the first engineered dam built in Australia, and the second arch dam in the world built to mathematical specifications. The first such dam was opened two years earlier in France . It
10206-428: The construction of large hydropower stations, irrigation schemes, and pipelines capable of transporting water over large distances, many more people now depend on the river for basic amenities such as electricity and drinking water than in the past. Syria's Lake Assad is the most important source of drinking water for the city of Aleppo , 75 kilometres (47 mi) to the west of the river valley. The lake also supports
10332-671: The construction of the Rideau Canal in Canada near modern-day Ottawa and built a series of curved masonry dams as part of the waterway system. In particular, the Jones Falls Dam , built by John Redpath , was completed in 1832 as the largest dam in North America and an engineering marvel. In order to keep the water in control during construction, two sluices , artificial channels for conducting water, were kept open in
10458-469: The dam by the water reduces the lateral (horizontal) force acting on the dam. Thus, the gravitational force required by the dam is lessened, i.e., the dam does not need to be so massive. This enables thinner dams and saves resources. A barrage dam is a special kind of dam that consists of a line of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing the dam. The gates are set between flanking piers which are responsible for supporting
10584-533: The dam was submitted by a consortium called Six Companies, Inc. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and the lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned over the dam to the federal government on 1 March 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule. By 1997, there were an estimated 800,000 dams worldwide, some 40,000 of them over 15 m (49 ft) high. In 2014, scholars from
10710-605: The dam. If large enough uplift pressures are generated there is a risk of destabilizing the concrete gravity dam. On a suitable site, a gravity dam can prove to be a better alternative to other types of dams. When built on a solid foundation, the gravity dam probably represents the best-developed example of dam building. Since the fear of flood is a strong motivator in many regions, gravity dams are built in some instances where an arch dam would have been more economical. Gravity dams are classified as "solid" or "hollow" and are generally made of either concrete or masonry. The solid form
10836-407: The dam. The first was near the base of the dam on its east side. A second sluice was put in on the west side of the dam, about 20 ft (6.1 m) above the base. To make the switch from the lower to upper sluice, the outlet of Sand Lake was blocked off. Hunts Creek near the city of Parramatta , Australia , was dammed in the 1850s, to cater to the demand for water from the growing population of
10962-450: The dams' potential range and magnitude of environmental disturbances. The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) defines a "large dam" as "A dam with a height of 15 m (49 ft) or greater from lowest foundation to crest or a dam between 5 m (16 ft) metres and 15 metres impounding more than 3 million cubic metres (2,400 acre⋅ft )". "Major dams" are over 150 m (490 ft) in height. The Report of
11088-639: The downstream states on the Euphrates and the Tigris. Apart from barrages and dams, Iraq has also created an intricate network of canals connecting the Euphrates with Lake Habbaniyah, Lake Tharthar , and Abu Dibbis reservoir; all of which can be used to store excess floodwater. Via the Shatt al-Hayy , the Euphrates is connected with the Tigris. The largest canal in this network is the Main Outfall Drain or so-called "Third River;" constructed between 1953 and 1992. This 565-kilometre-long (351 mi) canal
11214-501: The drainage basin of the Euphrates; a small part of the eastern desert (220 square kilometres (85 sq mi)) drains toward the east rather than to the west. In 2021, the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources reported that the Euphrates river could dry out by 2040 due to climate change and droughts. The Euphrates flows through a number of distinct vegetation zones. Although millennia-long human occupation in most parts of
11340-470: The fields. The salinity of Euphrates water in Iraq has increased as a result of upstream dam construction, leading to lower suitability as drinking water. The many dams and irrigation schemes, and the associated large-scale water abstraction, have also had a detrimental effect on the ecologically already fragile Mesopotamian Marshes and on freshwater fish habitats in Iraq. The inundation of large parts of
11466-561: The first large-scale arch dams. Three pioneering arch dams were built around the British Empire in the early 19th century. Henry Russel of the Royal Engineers oversaw the construction of the Mir Alam dam in 1804 to supply water to the city of Hyderabad (it is still in use today). It had a height of 12 m (39 ft) and consisted of 21 arches of variable span. In the 1820s and 30s, Lieutenant-Colonel John By supervised
11592-688: The first was the Roman-built dam bridge in Dezful , which could raise water 50 cubits (c. 23 m) to supply the town. Also diversion dams were known. Milling dams were introduced which the Muslim engineers called the Pul-i-Bulaiti . The first was built at Shustar on the River Karun , Iran, and many of these were later built in other parts of the Islamic world . Water was conducted from
11718-437: The flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation , human consumption , industrial use , aquaculture , and navigability . Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect or store water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve
11844-534: The force of water. A fixed-crest dam is a concrete barrier across a river. Fixed-crest dams are designed to maintain depth in the channel for navigation. They pose risks to boaters who may travel over them, as they are hard to spot from the water and create induced currents that are difficult to escape. There is variability, both worldwide and within individual countries, such as in the United States, in how dams of different sizes are categorized. Dam size influences construction, repair, and removal costs and affects
11970-496: The forced displacement of c. 4,000 families, who were resettled in other parts of northern Syria as part of a now abandoned plan to create an " Arab belt " along the borders with Turkey and Iraq. Apart from the changes in the discharge regime of the river, the numerous dams and irrigation projects have also had other effects on the environment. The creation of reservoirs with large surfaces in countries with high average temperatures has led to increased evaporation ; thereby reducing
12096-399: The high inter-annual variability in discharge; at Birecik , just north of the Syro–Turkish border, annual discharges have been measured that ranged from a low volume of 15.3 cubic kilometres (3.7 cu mi) in 1961 to a high of 42.7 cubic kilometres (10.2 cu mi) in 1963. The discharge regime of the Euphrates has changed dramatically since the construction of the first dams in
12222-645: The main stream of the Kaveri River in Tamil Nadu , South India . The basic structure dates to the 2nd century AD and is considered one of the oldest water diversion or water regulating structures still in use. The purpose of the dam was to divert the waters of the Kaveri across the fertile delta region for irrigation via canals. Du Jiang Yan is the oldest surviving irrigation system in China that included
12348-455: The mid- 3rd millennium BCE . In these texts, written in Sumerian, the Euphrates is called Buranuna ( logographic : UD.KIB.NUN). The name could also be written KIB.NUN.(NA) or KIB.NUN, with the prefix " " indicating that the river was a divinity . In Sumerian, the name of the city of Sippar in modern-day Iraq was also written UD.KIB.NUN, indicating a historically strong relationship between
12474-402: The moister parts of this zone include various oaks , pistachio trees , and Rosaceae (rose/plum family). The drier parts of the xeric woodland zone supports less dense oak forest and Rosaceae . Here can also be found the wild variants of many cereals, including einkorn wheat , emmer , oat and rye . South of this zone lies a zone of mixed woodland- steppe vegetation. Between Raqqa and
12600-545: The months April through May. Discharge in these two months accounts for 36 percent of the total annual discharge of the Euphrates, or even 60–70 percent according to one source, while low runoff occurs in summer and autumn. The average natural annual flow of the Euphrates has been determined from early- and mid-twentieth century records as 20.9 cubic kilometres (5.0 cu mi) at Keban, 36.6 cubic kilometres (8.8 cu mi) at Hīt and 21.5 cubic kilometres (5.2 cu mi) at Hindiya . However, these averages mask
12726-683: The other basic dam designs which had been unknown until then. These include arch-gravity dams , arch dams , buttress dams and multiple arch buttress dams , all of which were known and employed by the 2nd century AD (see List of Roman dams ). Roman workforces also were the first to build dam bridges, such as the Bridge of Valerian in Iran. In Iran , bridge dams such as the Band-e Kaisar were used to provide hydropower through water wheels , which often powered water-raising mechanisms. One of
12852-429: The other way about its toe. The designer ensures that the dam is heavy enough that the dam's weight wins that contest. In engineering terms, that is true whenever the resultant of the forces of gravity acting on the dam and water pressure on the dam acts in a line that passes upstream of the toe of the dam. The designer tries to shape the dam so if one were to consider the part of the dam above any particular height to be
12978-402: The point of military threats, occurred in 1981 when the Keban Dam reservoir had to be refilled after it had been almost emptied to temporarily increase Turkey's hydroelectricity production. In 1984, Turkey unilaterally declared that it would ensure a flow of at least 500 cubic metres (18,000 cu ft) per second, or 16 cubic kilometres (3.8 cu mi) per year, into Syria, and in 1987
13104-469: The primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also known as dikes ) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The word dam can be traced back to Middle English , and before that, from Middle Dutch , as seen in the names of many old cities, such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam . Ancient dams were built in Mesopotamia and
13230-659: The principles behind dam design. In France, J. Augustin Tortene de Sazilly explained the mechanics of vertically faced masonry gravity dams, and Zola's dam was the first to be built on the basis of these principles. The era of large dams was initiated with the construction of the Aswan Low Dam in Egypt in 1902, a gravity masonry buttress dam on the Nile River . Following their 1882 invasion and occupation of Egypt ,
13356-487: The state of New Mexico defines a jurisdictional dam as 25 feet or greater in height and storing more than 15 acre-feet or a dam that stores 50 acre-feet or greater and is six feet or more in height (section 72-5-32 NMSA), suggesting that dams that do not meet these requirements are non-jurisdictional. Most US dams, 2.41 million of a total of 2.5 million dams, are not under the jurisdiction of any public agency (i.e., they are non-jurisdictional), nor are they listed on
13482-408: The time (cf. Hurrian Puranti , Sabarian Uruttu ). The Elamite, Akkadian, and possibly Sumerian forms are suggested to be from an unrecorded substrate language . Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav Ivanov suggest the proto-Sumerian *burudu "copper" (Sumerian urudu ) as an origin, with an explanation that Euphrates was the river by which copper ore was transported in rafts, since Mesopotamia
13608-449: The total amount of water that is available for human use. Annual evaporation from reservoirs has been estimated at 2 cubic kilometres (0.48 cu mi) in Turkey, 1 cubic kilometre (0.24 cu mi) in Syria and 5 cubic kilometres (1.2 cu mi) in Iraq. Water quality in the Iraqi Euphrates is low because irrigation water tapped in Turkey and Syria flows back into the river, together with dissolved fertilizer chemicals used on
13734-399: The wake of the 2003 invasion . In Islam, hadiths say Muhammad said "The Last Hour would not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die but every man amongst them would say that perhaps he would be the one who would be saved" and that "he who finds it [the gold] should not take anything out of that." This
13860-406: The water level and to prevent the sea from entering the marshlands. Such dams often marked the beginning of a town or city because it was easy to cross the river at such a place, and often influenced Dutch place names. The present Dutch capital, Amsterdam (old name Amstelredam ), started with a dam on the river Amstel in the late 12th century, and Rotterdam began with a dam on the river Rotte ,
13986-642: The water load, and are often used to control and stabilize water flow for irrigation systems. An example of this type of dam is the now-decommissioned Red Bluff Diversion Dam on the Sacramento River near Red Bluff, California . Barrages that are built at the mouths of rivers or lagoons to prevent tidal incursions or use the tidal flow for tidal power are known as tidal barrages . Embankment dams are made of compacted earth, and are of two main types: rock-fill and earth-fill. Like concrete gravity dams, embankment dams rely on their weight to hold back
14112-511: The waters of Lake Assad. Archaeologists from numerous countries excavated sites ranging in date from the Natufian to the Abbasid period, and two minarets were dismantled and rebuilt outside the flood zone. Important sites that have been flooded or affected by the rising waters of Lake Assad include Mureybet , Emar and Abu Hureyra. A similar international effort was made when the Tishrin Dam
14238-581: The world is the 305 m-high (1,001 ft) Jinping-I Dam in China . As with large dams, small dams have multiple uses, such as, but not limited to, hydropower production, flood protection, and water storage. Small dams can be particularly useful on farms to capture runoff for later use, for example, during the dry season. Small scale dams have the potential to generate benefits without displacing people as well, and small, decentralised hydroelectric dams can aid rural development in developing countries. In
14364-548: Was 102 m (335 ft) long at its base and 87 m (285 ft) wide. The structure was built around 2800 or 2600 BC as a diversion dam for flood control, but was destroyed by heavy rain during construction or shortly afterwards. During the Twelfth Dynasty in the 19th century BC, the Pharaohs Senosert III, Amenemhat III , and Amenemhat IV dug a canal 16 km (9.9 mi) long linking
14490-402: Was 7,510 cubic metres (265,000 cu ft) per second, while after 1990 it is only 2,514 cubic metres (88,800 cu ft) per second. The minimum volume at Hīt remained relatively unchanged, rising from 55 cubic metres (1,900 cu ft) per second before 1990 to 58 cubic metres (2,000 cu ft) per second afterward. In Syria, three rivers add their water to the Euphrates;
14616-560: Was built. The system included 16 reservoirs, dams and various channels for collecting water and storing it. One of the engineering wonders of the ancient world was the Great Dam of Marib in Yemen . Initiated sometime between 1750 and 1700 BC, it was made of packed earth – triangular in cross-section, 580 m (1,900 ft) in length and originally 4 m (13 ft) high – running between two groups of rocks on either side, to which it
14742-506: Was completed in 1992; thereby creating a reservoir that is the third-largest lake in Turkey. With a maximum capacity of 48.7 cubic kilometres (11.7 cu mi), the Atatürk Dam reservoir is large enough to hold the entire annual discharge of the Euphrates. Completion of GAP was scheduled for 2010 but has been delayed because the World Bank has withheld funding due to the lack of an official agreement on water sharing between Turkey and
14868-517: Was constructed, which led, among others, to the flooding of the important Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of Jerf el Ahmar . An archaeological survey and rescue excavations were also carried out in the area flooded by Lake Qadisiya in Iraq. Parts of the flooded area have recently become accessible again due to the drying up of the lake, resulting not only in new possibilities for archaeologists to do more research, but also providing opportunities for looting , which has been rampant elsewhere in Iraq in
14994-587: Was controlled by city-states like Isin , Kish and Larsa before their territories were absorbed by the newly emerged state of Babylonia under Hammurabi in the early to mid 18th century BCE. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE, the Euphrates basin was divided between Kassite Babylon in the south and Mitanni , Assyria and the Hittite Empire in the north, with the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1020 BC) eventually eclipsing
15120-488: Was linked by substantial stonework. Repairs were carried out during various periods, most importantly around 750 BC, and 250 years later the dam height was increased to 7 m (23 ft). After the end of the Kingdom of Saba , the dam fell under the control of the Ḥimyarites (c. 115 BC) who undertook further improvements, creating a structure 14 m (46 ft) high, with five spillways, two masonry-reinforced sluices,
15246-524: Was possible, that is, the upper parts of the Syrian Euphrates as well as Turkey. Late Neolithic villages, characterized by the introduction of pottery in the early 7th millennium BCE, are known throughout this area. Occupation of lower Mesopotamia started in the 6th millennium and is generally associated with the introduction of irrigation, as rainfall in this area is insufficient for dry agriculture. Evidence for irrigation has been found at several sites dating to this period, including Tell es-Sawwan . During
15372-404: Was possibly the world's first concrete arch dam. Designed by Henry Charles Stanley in 1880 with an overflow spillway and a special water outlet, it was eventually heightened to 10 m (33 ft). In the latter half of the nineteenth century, significant advances in the scientific theory of masonry dam design were made. This transformed dam design from an art based on empirical methodology to
15498-687: Was the center of copper metallurgy during the period. The Euphrates is called Yeprat in Armenian ( Եփրատ ), Perat in modern Hebrew ( פרת ), Fırat in Turkish and Firat in Kurdish . The Mandaic name is Praš ( ࡐࡓࡀࡔ ), and is often mentioned as Praš Ziwa (pronounced Fraš Ziwa ) in Mandaean scriptures such as the Ginza Rabba . In Mandaean scriptures, the Euphrates
15624-461: Was the first French arch dam of the industrial era , and it was built by François Zola in the municipality of Aix-en-Provence to improve the supply of water after the 1832 cholera outbreak devastated the area. After royal approval was granted in 1844, the dam was constructed over the following decade. Its construction was carried out on the basis of the mathematical results of scientific stress analysis. The 75-miles dam near Warwick , Australia,
15750-682: Was the largest masonry dam in the world. The Hoover Dam is a massive concrete arch-gravity dam , constructed in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River , on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression . In 1928, Congress authorized the project to build a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power . The winning bid to build
15876-416: Was to supply drinking water needs of roughly 500 thousand people and will irrigate approximately 64,000 acres (260 km) of drought prone fields. The height of the dam is 13.6 m (45 ft) while the length is 690 m (2,260 ft). It has a gross storage capacity of 8.5 TMC. The volume is 70 km (17 cu mi) Dam#Earth-fill dams A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts
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