Euphrates Dam Management: No coordination with Damascus in management and maintenance of the dam
Al-Tabqa – North-Press Agency
Yehya Omar/Fayad Muhammad
The Euphrates dam was heavily damaged as a result of the violent fighting between the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Islamic State (ISIS), where ISIS destroyed the dam’s operating room and blew up the water groups (pumps and the aquatic supplies) before its defeat and withdrawal from the area.
The Euphrates Dam is located near the city of Tabqa, 50 km west of Raqqa. It is a solid earth-dam in the middle to prevent water leakage, and it consists of sand and gravel.
No coordination with Damascus
Ahmed Ossou, the director of the Dam Cranes Office said regarding the maintenance of the dam: “We managed with the efforts of the local expertise in the region, and with the support of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, to work on the dam’s maintenance, and we were able to repair four aquatic groups out of eight groups, and other four aquatic groups which were out of service,” pointing out that maintenance operations are currently being carried out on the sixth group.
Regarding the coordination with the Syrian government in the maintenance and management of the dam, Ossou said that there isn’t any kind of coordination, pointing out that before the Syrian crisis there were six groups in service, two of which are currently out of service, and these groups need Russian experts to be repaired.
Regarding the role of the international organizations in assisting the operation and maintenance of the dam, Ossou explained that they did not receive any support in this regard, he said: “the organizations only make promises”.
Syria’s largest water reservoir
Behind the dam is a large lake, one of the cleanest artificial lakes in the world. It is more than 80 km long and 8 km wide. It is considered as the largest water reserve in Syria with more than 14 billion cubic meters of stored water.
Ossou explained that ISIS has badly damaged the dam, they completely destroyed the operating room, and blew up the water bodies, the penstocks gates, and the top of the dam was bombed in the right and the left sides of the dam.”
He also said that the management of the dam coordinates with the Autonomous Administration to provide maintenance parts from any party, to operate the rest of the aquatic groups.
Regarding the capacity of the dam, Ossou explained that each group generates 110mw per hour, which supplies the northern and eastern regions of Syria with electricity, noting that in previous years the water supply was very little, and it couldn’t operate the four groups, but this year is good.”
Economic recovery
The Euphrates Dam regulates the river stream and contributes to preventing the dangers of its flooding, as it irrigates about 640/1,000ha of the agricultural lands. The dam’s hydroelectric plant is one of the largest power generation plants in Syria, with an estimated annual energy production of about 2.5 billion kWh, according to the dam’s management.
The Euphrates Dam was built in 1968 on the Euphrates River, and its construction lasted about five years, with a length of about 4.6km and a height of more than 60m.