The classification of a reservoir by volume is not as straightforward as it may seem. As the name implies, water is held in reserve by a reservoir so it can serve a purpose. For example, in Thailand, reservoirs tend to store water from the wet season to prevent flooding, then release it during the dry season for farmers to grow rice. For this type of reservoir, almost the entire volume of the reservoir functions for the purpose it was built. Hydroelectric power generation, on the other hand, requires many dams to build up a large volume before operation can begin. For this type of reservoir only a small portion of the water held behind the dam is useful. Therefore, knowing the purpose for which a reservoir has been constructed, and knowing how much water can be used for that purpose, helps determine how much water is in possible reserve.
The following terms are used in connection with the volume of reservoirs:
Nominal Volume or Capacity is the total volume of all water held behind a dam at the maximum level possible.
Initial or Design Volume refers to the possible volume within the reservoir after it first opens. Many rivers are high in silt that over time deposits behind a dam reducing capacity.
Active or Live volume equals the total capacity minus the dead pool volume. This is the volume that can serve some downstream purpose. For example, it is the volume available to make hydroelectric power or provide drinking water to a city.
Dead pool or Minimum volume refers to the amount of water left in a reservoir that cannot be used for the general purpose the reservoir was constructed. At this state, the reservoir is termed fully drawn down. For example, if built to supply water in the dry season, it is the water left behind when no more water can be extracted. Frequently, the effective minimum volume is greater if the water is needed for a purpose behind a dam.
Available capacity may require knowing the reservoir's primary purpose. If it is designed to prevent flooding, it may be the volume of water that can be retained before reaching maximum or top water.
Actual or Current when coupled with another term reflects the fact the level behind the dam is not constant.
Expanded versus artificial lakes
The list below largely ignores many natural lakes that have been augmented with the addition of a relatively minor dam. For example, a small dam, two hydroelectric plants, and locks on the outlet of Lake Superior make it possible to artificially control the lake level. Certainly, the great majority of the lake is natural. However, the control of water that can be held in reserve means a portion of the vast lake functions as a reservoir.
Recognition of lakes like Lake Superior greatly changes the list below. For example, the Francis H. Clergue Generating Station and Saint Marys Falls Hydropower Plant, which are both on the lake's outlet, operate with just 5.9 meters total head. This is short compared to other dams. However, when viewed against the 81,200 km2 area of the lake, even a small range in Lake Superior's water level means its active volume is greater than the largest nominal in the table below.
^"Aswan High Dam, River Nile, Sudan, Egypt - Water Technology".
^"Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project". Salini. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
^ (in Portuguese). Eletrobras Furnas. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
^Harrison, Rod; Ernie James; Chris Sully; Bill Classon; Joy Eckermann (2008). Queensland Dams. Bayswater, Victoria: Australian Fishing Network. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-1-86513-134-4.
^ Kay, B. (2006). Water Resources: Health, Environment and Development. CRC Press. p. 108. ISBN 9780203027851. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
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The classification of a reservoir by volume is not as straightforward as it may seem As the name implies water is held in reserve by a reservoir so it can serve a purpose For example in Thailand reservoirs tend to store water from the wet season to prevent flooding then release it during the dry season for farmers to grow rice For this type of reservoir almost the entire volume of the reservoir functions for the purpose it was built Hydroelectric power generation on the other hand requires many dams to build up a large volume before operation can begin For this type of reservoir only a small portion of the water held behind the dam is useful Therefore knowing the purpose for which a reservoir has been constructed and knowing how much water can be used for that purpose helps determine how much water is in possible reserve Contents 1 Terminology 2 Expanded versus artificial lakes 3 List 4 See also 5 ReferencesTerminology EditThe following terms are used in connection with the volume of reservoirs Nominal Volume or Capacity is the total volume of all water held behind a dam at the maximum level possible Initial or Design Volume refers to the possible volume within the reservoir after it first opens Many rivers are high in silt that over time deposits behind a dam reducing capacity Active or Live volume equals the total capacity minus the dead pool volume This is the volume that can serve some downstream purpose For example it is the volume available to make hydroelectric power or provide drinking water to a city Dead pool or Minimum volume refers to the amount of water left in a reservoir that cannot be used for the general purpose the reservoir was constructed At this state the reservoir is termed fully drawn down For example if built to supply water in the dry season it is the water left behind when no more water can be extracted Frequently the effective minimum volume is greater if the water is needed for a purpose behind a dam Available capacity may require knowing the reservoir s primary purpose If it is designed to prevent flooding it may be the volume of water that can be retained before reaching maximum or top water Actual or Current when coupled with another term reflects the fact the level behind the dam is not constant Expanded versus artificial lakes EditThe list below largely ignores many natural lakes that have been augmented with the addition of a relatively minor dam For example a small dam two hydroelectric plants and locks on the outlet of Lake Superior make it possible to artificially control the lake level Certainly the great majority of the lake is natural However the control of water that can be held in reserve means a portion of the vast lake functions as a reservoir Recognition of lakes like Lake Superior greatly changes the list below For example the Francis H Clergue Generating Station and Saint Marys Falls Hydropower Plant which are both on the lake s outlet operate with just 5 9 meters total head This is short compared to other dams However when viewed against the 81 200 km2 area of the lake even a small range in Lake Superior s water level means its active volume is greater than the largest nominal in the table below List EditRank Reservoir Dam River Country Year Nominal volume km Ref 1 Lake Kariba Kariba Dam Zambezi River Zambia and Zimbabwe 1959 180 6 1 160 3 2 2 Bratsk Reservoir Bratsk Dam Angara River Russia 1964 169 1 169 3 2 3 Lake Volta Akosombo Dam Volta River Ghana 1965 150 1 148 2 4 Manicouagan Reservoir Daniel Johnson Dam Manicouagan River Canada 1968 141 85 1 141 7 2 5 Guri Reservoir Guri Dam Caroni River Venezuela 1986 135 1 6 Lake Nasser Aswan High Dam Nile River Egypt and Sudan 1971 132 3 7 Millennium Reservoir Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Blue Nile River Ethiopia under construction 79 4 8 Williston Lake W A C Bennett Dam Peace River Canada 1967 74 3 1 9 Krasnoyarsk Reservoir Krasnoyarsk Dam Yenisei River Russia 1967 73 3 1 2 10 Zeya Reservoir Zeya Hydroelectric Station ru Zeya River Russia 1978 68 4 1 2 11 Robert Bourassa Reservoir Robert Bourassa generating station La Grande River Canada 1981 61 71 1 12 La Grande 3 Nord Reservoir La Grande 3 generating station La Grande River Canada 1981 60 02 1 13 Ust Ilimsk Reservoir Ust Ilimsk Dam Angara River Russia 1977 59 3 1 2 14 Boguchany Reservoir Boguchany Dam Angara River Russia 2012 58 2 1 15 Kuybyshev Reservoir Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station Volga River Russia 1955 58 1 2 16 Cahora Bassa Cahora Bassa Dam Zambezi River Mozambique 1974 55 8 1 17 Serra da Mesa Reservoir Serra da Mesa Dam Tocantins River Brazil 1998 54 4 5 18 Caniapiscau Reservoir Brisay generating station Caniapiscau River Canada 1981 53 8 1 19 Pati Chapeton proposal Parana River Argentina 53 7 1 20 Bukhtarma Reservoir Bukhtarma Hydroelectric Power Plant Irtysh River Kazakhstan 1967 53 1 2 21 Danjiangkou Reservoir Danjiangkou Dam Han River Yangtze River tributary People s Republic of China 1962 51 6 1 22 Lake Ataturk Dam Ataturk Dam Euphrates Turkey 1992 48 7 1 23 Irkutsk Reservoir Irkutsk Dam Angara River Russia 1956 46 1 24 Lago Tucurui Tucurui Dam Tocantins River Brazil 1984 45 54 1 25 Los Barreales Lake verification needed Loma de la Lata Dam Cerros Colorados Complex verification needed Neuquen River Argentina 1973 43 5 1 26 Mari Menuco Lake verification needed Planicie Banderita hydroelectric power plant Cerros Colorados Complex Neuquen River Argentina 1979 43 1 27 Three Gorges Reservoir Three Gorges Dam Yangtze River People s Republic of China 2009 39 3 1 28 Lake Mead Hoover Dam Colorado River United States 1936 37 3 1 29 Winar Grue verification needed Canada 1952 37 1 30 Roseires Reservoir Roseires Dam Blue Nile Sudan 1966 36 3 1 31 Vilyuy Reservoir ru Vilyuy Dam ru Vilyuy River Russia 1967 35 9 1 32 Lake Powell Glen Canyon Dam Colorado River United States 1964 35 55 1 33 Lake Argyle Lake Argyle Dam Ord River Australia 1971 35 6 7 34 Nechako Reservoir Kenney Dam Nechako Kemano Canada 1966 35 1 35 Sobradinho Reservoir Sobradinho Dam Sao Francisco River Brazil 1979 34 1 1 36 Smallwood Reservoir Churchill Falls Churchill River Canada 1971 32 64 1 37 Jenpeg Dam Lake Winnipeg outlet Canada 1975 31 79 1 38 Keban Dam Lake Keban Dam Euphrates Turkey 1971 31 5 1 39 Volgograd Reservoir Volga Hydroelectric Station Volga River Russia 1958 31 5 1 40 Sayano Shushenskoye Reservoir ru Sayano Shushenskaya Dam Yenisei River Russia 1990 31 3 1 41 Lake Sakakawea Garrison Dam Missouri River United States 1953 30 22 1 42 Lake Kossou Kossou Dam Bandama River Ivory Coast 1961 30 1 43 Iroquois Dam St Lawrence River Canada 1958 29 96 1 44 Lake Oahe Oahe Dam Missouri River United States 1966 29 11 1 45 Lake Itaipu pt Itaipu Dam Parana River Brazil and Paraguay 1983 29 1 46 Rybinsk Reservoir Rybinsk Dam Volga River Russia 1941 1947 25 447 La Grande 4 Reservoir La Grande 4 generating station La Grande River Canada 1984 19 548 Kakhovka Reservoir Kakhovka Dam Dnieper River Ukraine 1956 18 249 Sanmenxia Reservoir Sanmenxia Dam Yellow River People s Republic of China 1962 16 2 1 2 50 Mingachevir reservoir Mingachevir Dam Kura River Azerbaijan 1953 15 7351 Merowe Reservoir Merowe Dam Nile River Sudan 2009 12 50 8 See also EditList of reservoirs by surface area List of conventional hydroelectric power stations List of largest reservoirs in the United StatesReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap B F Chao Y H Wu Y S Li 2008 Impact of Artificial Reservoir Water Impoundment on Global Sea Level Science 320 5 212 214 Bibcode 2008Sci 320 212C CiteSeerX 10 1 1 394 2090 doi 10 1126 science 1154580 PMID 18339903 S2CID 43767440 Compiles a database of world dams using the International Commission on Large Dams database a b c d e f g h i j Avakyan AB Ovchinnikova SP 1971 Foreign experience and techniques Hydrotechnical Construction 5 8 773 777 doi 10 1007 BF02403626 S2CID 110352316 Aswan High Dam River Nile Sudan Egypt Water Technology Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project Salini Retrieved 17 January 2014 Hydroelectric Power DA SERRA MESA 1 275MW in Portuguese Eletrobras Furnas Archived from the original on 17 March 2018 Retrieved 18 September 2010 Harrison Rod Ernie James Chris Sully Bill Classon Joy Eckermann 2008 Queensland Dams Bayswater Victoria Australian Fishing Network pp 60 61 ISBN 978 1 86513 134 4 Kay B 2006 Water Resources Health Environment and Development CRC Press p 108 ISBN 9780203027851 Retrieved 2014 12 13 Merowe Dam Structure Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title List of reservoirs by volume amp oldid 1120393820, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
