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The longest river in Asia, the Yangtze River brings mixed blessings to China. Although it meets the water needs of millions of people, the river regularly overflows its banks. To protect residents and land in the lower Yangtze floodplains, China began construction on the Three Gorges Dam in 1994.
Published Jun 13, 2007
Satellite data shows that water levels in Iraq’s largest reservoir have reached heights not seen in more than a decade.
Published May 8, 2019
This image from April 15, 2009, is one of the first images that astronauts on the International Space Station have been able to capture of the flooding behind the Three Gorges Dam in China.
Published Jun 8, 2009
Authorities keeps a watchful eye on ice near a key dam on the Kyiv Reservoir.
Published Mar 31, 2012
Brazil’s Porto Primavera Dam sits on the Paraná River, 28 kilometers (17 miles) upstream from the confluence of the Paranapanema and Paraná Rivers. Constructed to provide hydroelectricity, this dam created the Porto Primavera Reservoir
Published Apr 27, 2008
As water levels rise from excessive monsoon rainfall, dam operators discharge water through spillway gates.
Published Jul 24, 2020
The Indus River basin extends from the Himalaya Mountains that form the northeastern boundary of Pakistan to the alluvial plains of Sindh near the Arabian Sea coastline. Tarbela Dam is part of the Indus Basin Project, which resulted from a water treaty signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan. This treaty guaranteed Pakistan water supplies independent of upstream control by India. Designed primarily for water storage rather than power generation, the dam was completed in 1977. Turquoise waters of the Indus River (to the south of the dam) reflect the high proportion of silt and clay suspended in waters released by the spillways.
Published May 30, 2005
The 12,000-year old town of Hasankeyf could soon be underwater due to the construction of a new dam.
Published Mar 17, 2020
The International Space Station got a view of the overflowing dam.
Published Mar 3, 2017
The Golden State’s largest reservoir has warmed and become depleted over the past decade.
Published Jun 26, 2015
Irrigation from Lake Nasser, one of the world’s largest man-made lakes, has increased the amount of arable land and crop production in Egypt.
Published Jul 8, 2020
A series of winter storms have pushed reservoirs in the Sacramento Valley to the brim—and one dam to the breaking point.
Published Feb 14, 2017
Astronaut photograph of Merowe Dam and Reservoir along the Nile River, Sudan.
Published Oct 25, 2010
