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Kurit Dam | |
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Location | Tabas, Tabas County, South Khorasan Province, Iran |
Coordinates | 33°26′11″N57°14′31″E / 33.43639°N 57.24194°E |
Construction began | 14th century |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Arch-gravity |
Impounds | Kurit River |
Height | 64 metres (210 ft) |
Length | 29 metres (95 ft) |
The Kurit Dam is an arch-gravity dam located 56 km away from Tabas, Iran near the village of Kurit. This was to remain a world record for any type of dam from 1350 until the early twentieth century. [1]
The dam was originally 60m tall but 4m of height was added in 1850. The dam was constructed in a very narrow gorge and was the tallest in the world up until the early 20th century. [2] The dam also contained a water outlet system considered sophisticated for its time. [3] Currently, the dam does not impound a reservoir and a large segment of its lower downstream face has fallen off. Behind the dam, where the reservoir existed, is now full of silt with the exception of directly behind the upstream face which has been excavated. [4]
Kurit Dam belongs to the post-Islamic historical periods and is located in the village of Kurit, Tabas city, Iran. [5] .This dam was constructed of irregular and regular stone material as well as bricks and was employed by the locals for about seven centuries. [6]
The Euphrates 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. Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq, which empties into the Persian Gulf.
Irrigation is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been developed by many cultures around the world. Irrigation helps to grow crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during times of below-average rainfall. In addition to these uses, irrigation is also employed to protect crops from frost, suppress weed growth in grain fields, and prevent soil consolidation. It is also used to cool livestock, reduce dust, dispose of sewage, and support mining operations. Drainage, which involves the removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given location, is often studied in conjunction with irrigation.
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The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1980s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, eclipsing the United States' Chatuge Dam. Its significance largely upstaged the previous Aswan Low Dam initially completed in 1902 downstream. Based on the success of the Low Dam, then at its maximum utilization, construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the new regime, the Free Officers movement of 1952; with its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity, the dam was seen as pivotal to Egypt's planned industrialization. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower. Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4,500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also more than nuclear power. Hydropower can provide large amounts of low-carbon electricity on demand, making it a key element for creating secure and clean electricity supply systems. A hydroelectric power station that has a dam and reservoir is a flexible source, since the amount of electricity produced can be increased or decreased in seconds or minutes in response to varying electricity demand. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, it produces no direct waste, and almost always emits considerably less greenhouse gas than fossil fuel-powered energy plants. However, when constructed in lowland rainforest areas, where part of the forest is inundated, substantial amounts of greenhouse gases may be emitted.
The Dez Dam, formerly known as Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi Dam, before 1979 Revolution, is an arch dam on the Dez River in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, Iran. It was built between 1959 and 1963 during the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,the last Shah of Iran, with contacting an Italian consortium and is owned by the Khuzestan Water & Power Authority. The dam is 203 metres (666 ft) high, making it one of the highest in the country, and has a reservoir capacity of 3,340,000,000 m3 (2,710,000 acre⋅ft). At the time of construction the Dez Dam was Iran's biggest development project. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and irrigation. It has an associated 520 MW power station and its reservoir helps irrigate up to 80,500 ha of farmland. US$42 million of the cost to construct the dam came from the World Bank.
A reservoir is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
The environmental impact of reservoirs comes under ever-increasing scrutiny as the global demand for water and energy increases and the number and size of reservoirs increases.
SaltMod is computer program for the prediction of the salinity of soil moisture, groundwater and drainage water, the depth of the watertable, and the drain discharge (hydrology) in irrigated agricultural lands, using different (geo)hydrologic conditions, varying water management options, including the use of ground water for irrigation, and several cropping rotation schedules. The water management options include irrigation, drainage, and the use of subsurface drainage water from pipe drains, ditches or wells for irrigation.
The Rio Grande Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation irrigation, hydroelectricity, flood control, and interbasin water transfer project serving the upper Rio Grande basin in the southwestern United States. The project irrigates 193,000 acres (780 km2) along the river in the states of New Mexico and Texas. Approximately 60 percent of this land is in New Mexico. Some water is also allotted to Mexico to irrigate some 25,000 acres (100 km2) on the south side of the river. The project was authorized in 1905, but its final features were not implemented until the early 1950s.
The environmental effects of irrigation relate to the changes in quantity and quality of soil and water as a result of irrigation and the subsequent effects on natural and social conditions in river basins and downstream of an irrigation scheme. The effects stem from the altered hydrological conditions caused by the installation and operation of the irrigation scheme.
Shihmen Dam is a major rock fill dam across the Dahan River in northern Taoyuan City. It forms the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫), Taiwan's third largest reservoir or artificial lake. It provides irrigation in Taoyuan, flood control for the Taipei Basin, and hydroelectricity and domestic water supply for more than three million people in northern Taiwan.
Amir Kabir dam, also known as Karaj dam, is a dam on the Karaj River in the Central Alborz mountain range of northern Iran.
Sefidrud Dam is a buttress dam on the Sefīd-Rūd in the Alborz mountain range, located near Manjil in Gilan Province, northern Iran.
The Band-e Kaisar, Pol-e Kaisar, Bridge of Valerian or Shadirwan was an ancient arch bridge in the city of Shushtar, Khuzestan province, Iran, and the first in the country to combine it with a dam. Built by the Sassanids during the 3rd century CE, using Roman prisoners of war as the workforce, it is the easternmost example of Roman bridge design and Roman dam. Its dual-purpose design exerted a profound influence on Iranian civil engineering and was instrumental in developing Sassanid water management techniques.
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Quail Creek State Park is a state park of Utah, United States, featuring a 600-acre (240 ha) reservoir. The park is located within Hurricane, Utah, 9 miles (14 km) west of the city center and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the historic ghost town of Harrisburg. Quail Creek State Park offers camping, boating, swimming, and fishing.
Avalon Dam is a small dam on the Pecos River about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States. The dam is a storage and regulating reservoir, and diverts water into the main canal of the Carlsbad Project, an irrigation scheme.
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