News Storing Water in Dam Reservoirs: Why is it Necessary ? (original) (raw)

SUMMARY The world population is growing by leaps and bounds and the impact of this growth on water resources is such that we shall need more water for drinking, agriculture, energy generation, industrial production, and so on. Moreover, lifestyle is changing all over the world and a direct impact of this trend is a very significant increase in water use. For these reasons, demand for water is steadily increasing throughout the world. However, freshwater resources are limited and unevenly distributed both in time and place. In addition to this, seasonal variations and climatic irregularities in flow lead to the inefficient use of river 1 runoff, with flooding and drought causing problems of catastrophic proportions. From the beginning of the human history, for almost 5 000 years, dams have served to ensure an adequate supply of water by storing water in times of surplus and releasing it in times of scarcity, thus also preventing or mitigating floods and making a significant contribution to the efficient management of finite water resources that are unevenly distributed and subject to large seasonal fluctuations. In the other words, the construction of dams in the concept of water resources management has always been considered as a basic requirement to harmonize the natural hydrological regime with the human needs for water and water related services. Purposes to be served by such a project usually include water supply, irrigation, flood control, hydropower generation, navigation, recreation, pollution abatement, industrial use, fish and wildlife conservation and other environmental considerations, salinity and sediment control, and recharge of groundwater. To meet these purposes, a number of dams are constructed to control and regulate the natural flows. This regulation function is obviously the main reason for creating reservoirs by constructing dams.