Dam

A dam is a barrier built across a watercourse to hold back, control, or divert water. It can create a reservoir, regulate flows, or support water storage and power generation.

Reservoir: A reservoir is a natural or artificial body of stored water, often formed behind a dam. The impounded water is the main storage created by many dams.
Hydroelectricity: Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by converting the energy of moving or falling water. Releasing stored water through turbines lets some dams generate electricity.
Dam removal: Dam removal is the deliberate dismantling or breaching of a dam to restore river processes or address safety concerns. Removing a dam can reopen a river and end its impoundment.
Gravity dam: A gravity dam is a massive dam that resists water pressure primarily through its own weight. It contrasts with designs that rely more heavily on curvature or internal supports.
Jawa Dam: Jawa Dam is an ancient stone dam in present-day Jordan, built to collect runoff in an arid region. Its early construction shows that dam building predates modern engineering by millennia.
Spillway: A spillway is a channel or structure that safely releases excess water from a reservoir. It prevents overtopping when inflows exceed storage capacity.
Flood control: Flood control is the reduction of flood damage through measures that manage water levels and flows. Reservoirs can temporarily store floodwaters and reduce downstream peaks.
Sediment transport: Sediment transport is the movement of mineral and organic particles by flowing water, wind, ice, or gravity. Reservoirs trap sediment that would otherwise replenish downstream channels and deltas.
Buttress dam: A buttress dam uses a watertight upstream face supported by a series of downstream structural supports. Its supports allow a thinner face than a massive gravity structure.
Marib Dam: Marib Dam was an ancient irrigation dam in Yemen associated with the Sabaean kingdom. Its large-scale water management supported agriculture in a dry landscape.

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