The Badush Dam is an unfinished multi-purpose

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 ...

on the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

River, located near Badush, northwest of

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

in the

Ninawa Governorate Nineveh Governorate ( ar, محافظة نينوى, syr, ܗܘܦܪܟܝܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ, Hoparkiya d’Ninwe, ckb, پارێزگای نەینەوا, Parêzgeha Neynewa), also known as Ninawa Governorate, is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an ...

, northern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. If completed, the dam's designed main purpose is to provide protection from a failure of the unstable

Mosul Dam Mosul Dam ( ar, سد الموصل), formerly known as Saddam Dam (), is the largest dam in Iraq. It is located on the Tigris river in the western governorate of Nineveh, upstream of the city of Mosul. The dam serves to generate hydroelectricity ...

upstream. In addition, the hydroelectric power station would have an installed capacity of 170 MW and the dam would further regulate tailwaters from Mosul Dam.

History

In response to concerns over Mosul Dam's

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

foundation, Iraqi's Ministry of Irrigation began construction in 1988. Works on the dam ended in 1991 due to economic sanctions against Iraq. Other problems troubled construction as well, particularly lethal gas exhalation. Significant construction on the dam along with the hydro-power unit housing had occurred. The dam is roughly 40 percent complete.

Current project

Concerns over the stability of the Mosul Dam significantly contributed to recent efforts to restart construction of the Badush Dam, and possibly expand it as well. As early as December 2005, Iraq's

Ministry of Water Resources Ministry of water resources may refer to: * Ministry of Water Resources (Bangladesh) * Ministry of Water Resources (India) * Ministry of Water Resources (Iraq) * Minister of Water Resources (Nigeria) * Ministry of Water Resources (Pakistan) * Minis ...

was developing a project to restart construction on the dam. Currently, it would cost about US$300 million to complete the initial design but the

Government of Iraq The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as wel ...

is wary of spending an additional US$10 billion to expand the dam's size in order to help mitigate a potential failure of the Mosul Dam. The current project contains a main earth-fill dam with an inclined clay core and other random fills, two saddle dams (earth-fill dams) at the left bank and a concrete dam (hollow buttress type) at the right bank. The concrete dam includes eight bottom outlets, a

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

and four power intakes and conduits, a stilling basin, headrace and tailrace channels. There is a power house, close to the concrete dam. The Badush Dam's spillway will have a maximum output of ; each hydro-power unit will have a capacity of for a total of . The bottom outlets, power station and spillway combined afford a discharge capacity of The normal reservoir level is above sea level and the maximum level is . The allowance between the normal and maximum is for flood protection from a Mosul Dam collapse. At its maximum level the Badush reservoir can hold , enough to absorb and pass a Mosul Dam wave, according to a wave study.

References

External links

{{Tigris dams Dams in Iraq Dams on the Tigris River Hydroelectric power stations in Iraq Nineveh Governorate Geography of Iraqi Kurdistan Proposed hydroelectric power stations Proposed renewable energy power stations in Iraq