The Daryan Dam, also spelled Darian (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: سد داریان), is an

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

constructed on the Sirvan River just north of Daryan in Paveh County,

Kermanshah province Kermanshah province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, bordering Iraq. Its capital is the city of Kermanshah. According to a 2014 segmentation by the Ministry of Interior (Iran), Ministry of Interior, it is the center of Regions of Iran ...

, Iran. The primary purpose of the dam is to supply up to of water annually to the long Nowsud Water Conveyance Tunnel where it will irrigate areas of Southwestern Iran. The dam also has a 210 MW

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power station. Construction on the dam began in 2009 and the dam began to fill its reservoir in late November 2015. The Darian Dam Archaeological Salvage Program (DDASP) was planned by Iranian Center for Archaeological Research before flooding the

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

. As a result, a number of important archaeological sites were discovered and some were excavated. The power station was commissioned in 2018. The dam's diversion tunnel was completed in June 2011. The dam was designed by Stucky of France and consultation was provided by Mahab Ghodss, International Consulting Engineering Co. In August 2010 Farab Co. won the contract to build the power station. In 2011, workers on the project held a protest against unpaid wages. The dam is also the subject of protest due to the forced relocations and ecological/cultural impact its

will have.

Reservoir volume reduction

The Darian Dam project was planned through studies to have a reservoir volume of one billion cubic meters, But in order to preserve the village of Hajij, respect the religious beliefs of the people, and preserve the historical monuments of the region, especially Imamzade Obaidullah Hajij, the height of the Darian Dam was reduced by 50 meters. One of the goals of building the Darian Dam was to reduce the inequality in the water consumption of the Sirwan and Diyala River in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. In Iraq, the Diyala Weir and several large reservoir dams with a total reservoir volume of 5071 million cubic meters have been built on this river. The decrease in the reservoir volume of the Darian dam in Iran caused the total reservoir volume of Iran's dams on this river to reach 440 million cubic meters, which is much less than the water consumption on the Iraqi side of this river. Another problem caused by the reduction in the volume of the Sirvan Dam is the reduction of the water flow of the Sirvan River in the downstream areas during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

s, which occurs with the increase in the water demand of the Sirvan River in the upstream. This issue has several times led to Iraqi officials blaming the Iranian side for the reduced flow of this river during the dry seasons of the year.

References

Dams in Kermanshah Province Dams on the Diyala (Sirwan) River Rock-filled dams Dams completed in 2018 Interbasin transfer Hydroelectric power stations in Iran Buildings and structures in Kermanshah province Paveh County Iranian Kurdistan {{Iran-dam-stub

Reservoir volume reduction

See also

References