IMPORTANCE OF WATER IS RESERVIOURS IN COUNTRY:

WATER RESERIOURS:
A reservoir is a large, artificial lake created by constructing a dam across a river. Broadly speaking, any water pool or a lake may be termed a reservoir. However, the term reservoir in water resources engineering is used in a restricted sense for a comparatively large body of water stored on the upstream of a dam constructed for this purpose. Thus a dam and a reservoir exist together. The discharge in a river generally varies considerably during different periods of a year. During the period of low flow, it is not possible to meet the water demands for various purposes such as irrigation, water supply and hydroelectric power. To regulate the water supplies, a reservoir is created on the river to store water during the rainy season. The stored water is later released during the period of low flows to meet the demand. In the monsoon season, the reservoir store excess water when the discharge in the river is high. Thus besides releasing the water during the period of low flows, the reservoirs also help in flood control.

DAMS: DEFINITION :
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations.

HISTORY OF DAM:
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. Early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the water level, for Mesopotamia's weather affected the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and could be quite unpredictable. simple earth dams and networks of canals were constructed as far back as 2000 BC to provide people with the reliable source of the water they need to live. Historically, dams have enabled people to collect and store water when it is plentiful land then use it during dry periods. Therefore, they have been essential in establishing and supporting towns and farms as well as providing food through irrigation of crop land. One of the oldest dams that are still in use today is an earth and rock-fill embankment dam built around 1300 B.C. in what is now Syria. Several ancient dams from the13th to the 16th century in Iran are still in use today. Historically, dams have been planned and constructed for the purpose of water supply, irrigation, and flood control. In the late 1800s, hydropower and navigation were added. Recreation has been a very beneficial additional purpose at many reservoir projects. In more recent times, dams have been built to serve several purposes and are therefore called multipurpose dams.

 TYPE OF DAMS:
Dams can be built on by structure, Arch-gravity, barrages, Embankment, by size, by use, by material, by Diversionary and others. Following are the types of dam; a) Embankment Dams: A dam constructed of earth or rock fill that relies on its weight and various material characteristics to control seepage for its stability. The Aswan High Dam is worth your time. This dam which took ten years to construct is the largest embankment dam in the world b) Earth-fill Dam: A dam in which more than 50 percent of the volume consists of soil. The Tarbela Dam is the largest earth and rock-fill dam of the world it is situated in Pakistan. It was constructed as part of the Indus Basin Settlement Plan. c) Homogeneous Earth fill Dam: A dam constructed of uniform soil material throughout. d) Zone Embankment Dam: A dam composed of zones of selected materials having different degrees of permeability. Used in most modern dams. e) Rock-fill Dam: A dam in which more than 50 percent of the volume consists of rock. Zoned construction is required with an impervious core or upstream blanket. The Gath right Dam in Virginia is a rock-fill dam f) Timber Crib Dam: Generally, a dam built up of boxes, cribs, or crossed timbers filled with earth or rock and covered with timber planks. Timber dams could be quickly constructed using readily available dressed logs. However, timber dams have a short overall lifespan due to decomposition of the wood, and most of the existing timber dams in the US have been replaced over the years. g) Stone Wall Dam: A dam consisting of earth embankment within masonry rubble rock faces. The rock wall on the downstream face is usually vertical. Upstream rock walls are sometimes present and are generally vertical. h) Gravity Dams A dam constructed of concrete and/or masonry that relies on its weight for stability. (Strictly speaking, an embankment dam is a gravity dam. The term, however, has evolved to apply primarily to masonry or concrete dams.) i) Concrete Dam: A dam constructed mainly of cast in place concrete. j) Masonry Dam: A dam constructed mainly of shaped stone, brick or concrete blocks that may or may not be joined by mortar. k) Rubble Dam: A dam constructed of unshaped, coarse stone or fragments of stones not placed in courses that may or may not be joined by mortar. l) Buttress Dam: A dam consisting of a water tight upstream face, usually concrete, supported at intervals on the downstream side by a series of buttress walls perpendicular to the face. A buttress dam relies on the bracing action from the buttress for stability. There are three main types of buttress dams, these are; Ambursen (flat slab) dam, arch buttress dam, and the solid head buttress dam.

CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS:
1. POWER GENERATION PLANTS: Hydroelectric power, mostly from dams, supplies some 19% of the world's electricity, and over 63% of renewable energy .Much of this is generated by large dams, although China uses small scale hydro generation on a wide scale and is responsible for about 50% of world use of this type of power. Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator; to boost the power generation capabilities of a dam, the water may be run through a large pipe called a penstock before the turbine.. Power generation plants play a very important role in electricity production. The major advantage of hydroelectricity is elimination of the cost of fuel. The cost of operating a hydroelectric plant is nearly immune to increases in the cost of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and no imports are needed. The average cost of electricity from a hydro plant larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. While many hydroelectric projects supply public electricity networks, some are created to serve specific industrial enterprises. Dedicated hydroelectric projects are often built to provide the substantial amounts of electricity needed for aluminum electrolytic plants. 2. SPILLWAYS: A spillway is a section of a dam designed to pass water from the upstream side of a dam to the downstream side. Many spillways have floodgates designed to control the flow through the spillway. Types of spillway include: A service spillway or primary spillway passes normal flow. An auxiliary spillway releases flow in excess of the capacity of the service spillway. An emergency spillway is designed for extreme conditions, such as a serious malfunction of the service spillway. A fuse plug spillway is a low embankment designed to be over topped and washed away in the event of a large flood. Fuse gate elements are independent free-standing block set side by side on the spillway which works without any remote control. They allow increasing the normal pool of the dam without compromising the security of the dam because they are designed to be gradually evacuated for exceptional events. They work as fixed weir most of the time allowing over spilling for the common floods. The spillway can be gradually eroded by water flow, including cavitations or turbulence of the water flowing over the spillway, leading to its failure.

DAMS CREATION:

1. COMMON PURPOSE OF THE DAMS: Dams provide a range of economic, environmental, and social benefits, including recreation, flood control, water supply, hydroelectric power, waste management, river navigation, and wildlife habitat. Power generation is a major source of electricity in the world. Many countries that have rivers with adequate water flow, that can be dammed for power generation purposes. Many urban areas of the world are supplied with water abstracted from rivers pent up behind low dams or weirs. Dams are often used to control and stabilize water flow, often for agricultural purposes and irrigation. Land reclamation Dams (often called dykes

or levees in this context) are used to prevent ingress of water to an area that would otherwise be submerged, allowing its reclamation for human use. Water diversion dam used to divert water for irrigation, power generation, or other uses, with usually no other function. Dams create deep reservoirs and can also vary the flow of water downstream. Large dams can serve this purpose but most often weirs and locks are used. 2. ENVIORMENTAL IMPACT: Reservoirs held behind dams affect many ecological aspects of a river. Rivers topography and dynamics depend on a wide range of flows whilst rivers below dams often experience long periods of very stable flow conditions or saw tooth flow patterns caused by releases followed by no releases. Water releases from a reservoir including that exiting a turbine usually contains very little suspended sediment, and this in turn can lead to scouring of river beds and loss of riverbanks. Older dams often lack a fish ladder, which keeps many fish from moving up stream to their natural breeding grounds, causing failure of breeding cycles or blocking of migration paths. Turbine and power-plant designs that have a lower impact upon aquatic life are an active area of research. A large dam can cause the loss of entire ecospheres, including endangered and undiscovered species in the area, and the replacement of the original environment by a new inland lake. 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. However, adverse environmental and sociological impacts have been identified during and after many reservoir constructions. 3. HUMAN SOCIAL IMPACT: The impact on human society is also significant. For example, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China is more than five times the size of the Hoover Dam (U.S.), and will create a reservoir 600 km long to be used for hydro-power generation. Its construction required the loss of over a million people's homes and their mass relocation, the loss of many valuable archaeological and cultural sites, as well as significant ecological change. It is estimated that to date, 40-80 million people worldwide have been physically displaced from their homes as a result of dam construction. Whilst reservoirs are helpful to humans, they can also be harmful as well. One negative effect is that the reservoirs can become breeding grounds for disease vectors. This holds true especially in tropical areas. 4. ECONOMIC IMPACT: Construction of a hydroelectric plant requires a long lead-time for site studies, hydrological studies, and environmental impact assessment, and is large scale projects by comparison to traditional power generation based upon fossil fuels. The number of sites that can be economically developed for hydroelectric production is limited; new sites tend to be far from population centers and usually require extensive power transmission lines. Hydroelectric generation can be vulnerable to major changes in the climate, including variation of rainfall, ground and surface water levels, and glacial melt, causing additional expenditure for the extra capacity to ensure sufficient power is available in low water years. Once completed, if it is well designed and maintained, a hydroelectric power source is usually comparatively cheap and reliable. It has no fuel and low escape risk, and as an alternative energy source it is cheaper than both nuclear and wind power. It is more easily regulated to store water as needed and generate high power levels on demand compared to wind power.

DAM FAILURE:
When a river is dammed, water is displaced and surrounding dry areas are flooded. Often this results in the displacement local populations and the inability to use land previously accessible. This can disrupt local activities like agriculture. Moreover, when vegetation is engulfed in water, the dead vegetation releases methane into the atmosphere, increasing the production of greenhouse gases. Additionally, the loss of forestland slows the uptake of carbon dioxide; another greenhouse gas. The flooding of surrounding areas displaces existing wildlife and can disrupt whole ecosystems. Furthermore, marine life that relies on the unobstructed flow of the river (e.g. migratory fish) can be adversely affected. Dam failures are generally catastrophic if the structure is breached or significantly damaged. Routine deformation monitoring and monitoring of seepage from drains in and around larger dams is useful to anticipate any problems and permit remedial action to be taken before structural failure occurs. Most dams incorporate mechanisms to permit the reservoir to be lowered or even drained in the event of such problems. Another solution can be rock grouting - pressure pumping port land cement slurry into weak fractured rock. The main causes of dam failure include inadequate spillway capacity, piping through the embankment, foundation or abutments.