Lar Dam (
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 لار ''sad-de lār'') is a
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
located at the foot of
Mount Damavand
Mount Damavand ( ) is a Volcano#Dormant, dormant stratovolcano and is the highest peak in Iran and Western Asia, the List of volcanoes by elevation, highest volcano in Asia, and the 3rd highest volcano in the Eastern Hemisphere (after Mount K ...
in
Amol county
Amol County () is in Mazandaran province, Mazandaran province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Amol.
History
After the 2006 National Census, Dasht-e Sar-e Sofla Rural District was created in the Central District (Amol County), Central Dis ...
,
Mazandaran
Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...
, Iran. The dam is located within the protected
Lar National Park, and situated just 70 kilometers northeast of the capital and the most populous city of the country,
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 ...
. The primary purpose of the dam is municipal water supply to Tehran but prior to the water reaching the city filtration plant, it is used to power the Kalan and Lavarak Hydroelectric Power Stations, with a combined installed capacity of 162.5 MW.
Construction
The construction began on the dam in 1974, and ended four years later in 1981. When the reservoir began in 1980, leakage was discovered downstream. The leakage is due to a
karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
foundation. The foundation was grouted from 1983 until 1989 with no success. With the population growth occurring in Amol, there was a need for more water and energy. The ideal place for the dam was over the Lar river, in the northeast section of the city, at the elevated heights of the ''Kalanbasteh'' mountain on the slope of Mount Damavand. The area is called Polour, and operations began in 1984.
One of the aims for building the Lar dam was to supply part of Amol with drinking water; it was not possible initially to operate the dam at its nominal capacity, because of a water seepage problem. Water stored in the dam's reservoir is first transferred to the ''Kalan Power Station'' () then to the ''Lavark Power Station'' (), a distance of 3 kilometers from the
Latyan Dam's reservoir, through the 20 kilometer long ''Kalan'' tunnel (3 meters in size). After electricity generation, the water joins and feeds the Latyan dam's reservoir. The Kalan Power Station was commissioned in 1998 and the Lavarak in March 2012 and July 2013.
Uncontrolled growth and expansion of Tehran created a situation where the existing water resources at
Karaj
Karaj (; ) is a List of cities in Iran by province, city in the Central District (Karaj County), Central District of Karaj County, Alborz province, Alborz province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Earl ...
,
Latyan and Lar dams and the deep wells which were supposed to be exploited only in the during the peak water consumption period. These were no longer capable of meeting the city's water demand, so inevitable abstraction from ground resources started to increase in a manner that at the present situation, the quantity of drilled deep wells has amounted to 230 rings. In fact, from 1997-2000, it had been orderly abstracted, 317, 289, 374 and 357 MCM (
million cubic metre
The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is m ...
s) of water from groundwater resources of the city.
[http://www.edu.joensuu.fi/eno/documents/global2.pdf#search=%22%22Lar%20Dam%22%22]
Lake
Lar lake from Damavand mountain.The lake is northeast of
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
.
See also
Dams in Iran
References
External links
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{{Dams and reservoirs in Iran
Dams in Mazandaran Province
Buildings and structures in Mazandaran province
Hydroelectric power stations in Iran
Alborz (mountain range)
Amol County
Dams completed in 1982
Energy infrastructure completed in 1998
1982 establishments in Iran
Tourist attractions in Amol
Tourist attractions in Mazandaran province