The Litani River Dam (el Wauroun Dam, Qaraoun Dam, or Albert Naqash Dam) was initiated in 1959 (construction completed in the 1960s), and created the largest
artificial lake
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
,
Lake Qaraoun. The area of the lake is about 12 square kilometers, and the capacity the lake is able to hold is about 220 million cubic meters. The height of the dam is 60 meters, the length is 1,350 meters, and the width is 162 meters, at most. As a whole, the size of the dam is about 2 million cubic meters.
Location
The artificial lake (
lake Qaraoun) is situated close to
Qaraoun, on the stretch before
Nabatiya.
Structure
The Litany dam is also equipped with two taps to empty the lake. The experts who administered the study of the Litani project all agreed that the location selected by the engineer, Ibrahim Abdul Aal, and the geologist, Dubertret, for the construction of the dam between
Qaraoon and Suhmur, was the most sufficient geographical location and that is why it was authorized as the project venue.
Water use
A service gallery, which is the pipe foundation, of 6,503 meters carries the water to the underground
hydroelectric station
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
. The water then goes through
transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
s and produces a maximum of 185 megawatts. The Litani dam will eventually provide local irrigation for 31,000 hectares of farmland in South Lebanon and 8,000 hectares in the Beqaa Valley, with a total of almost 40,000 hectares of irrigation.
Conflicts
Visiting
References
{{Coord, 33.5483, 35.6894, type:landmark_region:LB, display=title
Dams in Lebanon
Dams completed in the 1960s
Concrete-face rock-fill dams