Presentation Abstract

Written By: Melina Ibrahim, Mohd Aizzan Mistoh, Kemal Faza Hastadi and Natasyha Mohd Hisyam

TITLE: DAMS

Dams are solid walls built across rivers for the purpose of restricting the flow of the river thus
creating a water reservoir that forms upstream of the dam. The kept water flows from the river
upstream of the said dam. Key purpose of a dam is to form a lasting reservoir of water that can be
utilised at a later time. The function of a dam varies from supplying water to cities, generating
electricity through hydro-electric power stations, irrigate crops that are found downstream of a river
or used for human consumption. Examples of dams and its implementation on the world today
includes Three Gorges Dam in China that generates massive amount of power to fuel the needs of the
millions of residents in China as well as to irrigate crops downstream the river of Yangtze and the
Hoover Dam which generates an average of 4 billion kilowatt-hours for use in California, Nevada and
Arizona.

As we progress through the centuries and decades the construction of dams keep going
through evolution in order to meet the standards and needs of the society today. From the first dam
ever built during 3rd millennium B.C to the engineering marvel that we have today such as the Tarbela,
Fort Peck and Ataturk dams, these dams has come a long way since the initial purpose of its
construction which is irrigation for the crop field (Ataria, n.d.). In addition to create irrigation for crops
field its purpose have branch out into other uses such as hydroelectric generator and flood prevention
measures. Other than that, the materials that the dams are constructed from have also evolved from
soil and rock to concrete structures (U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation, 2005).
Technological advancement, particularly the industrial revolution has also led to advancement in the
method of construction of the dams

Dams can play a main role in the economic development of a nation and its kin. At the point
when dam is built, consistent rate of electricity is produced. Dams supply more than 103,800
megawatts of renewable electric power. Dams also help to control flood. Flooding used to be a
noteworthy issue for the seasonal Yangtze River in China with a great number of people living next to
the Three Gorges Dam. The flood storage capacity of the dam has a size of 22 cubic meter. It can
decrease the recurrence major downstream flooding from ten years once to 100 years once. Irrigation
water can be reestablished in dam supplies during stormy season and only released amid drier season
to the land. Dams and locks accommodate a stable arrangement of inland route as a consequence of
exhaustive basin and improvement using dams, locks and stores.

Before the Three Gorges Dam in China was built, it was facing sediment problem. The
measurement of the river sediment centralization of the upper stream is around 1.2 kg for each cubic
meter. The aggregate residue passing the dam site is above five hundred million a year. The landscape
of China was better before the dam construction. In the mid-1930s, Boulder City, Nevada, was built to
house 5,000 dam venture laborers. Before the city was built, numerous jobless men and their families
who had focalized on the dam site, planning to find employment in the midst of the Great Depression,
had lived in squatters settlements.

The future of dams is questionable as a number of risks and impacts have been inflicted to the
society. Dams are dangerous for those who resides below them as many incidents has happened.
Dams also produces a lot of Methane that can cause health risks. Not only that, the construction of
dams has wipe out a significant amount of biodiversity and livelihood. Other sources of power
generation such as using tidal and wave is more reliable whereas solar and wind power is cheaper and
more efficient. When rainfall rate decreases, dams will remain dry thus hydropower would be useless.
Instead of storing water in a dam it will be better if it stored underground as it will increase the
underground water storage. The method by planting more tree and greening the area.
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