Euphrates Dam heads toward decommissioning, reaching "dead level"

The water level of the Euphrates River continues to decline at a daily rate of 2 cm, posing a direct threat to the Euphrates Dam and exposing its concrete blocks to erosion and climatic factors. More than 6 million cubic meters of the Euphrates Lake's reservoir has been lost, and the irrigation canal's water flow has dropped to 20 cubic meters per second.

Imad Obeid, an administrator in the Dams Administration in North and East Syria, told ANHA agency that the maximum volume of the Euphrates Lake is 14 billion cubic meters, but the current level has reached less than 297 meters above sea level, lower than the maximum level of 304 meters. This means a loss of more than 7 meters of the "effective level" used for power generation. Irrigation and drinking water

Obeid emphasized that this unprecedented crisis has directly impacted the operation of the Euphrates Dam and the sectors benefiting from it. He explained that the drop in the lake level has exposed the concrete blocks that form the dam's slope, threatening its structural stability. He also noted ongoing efforts to fill the gaps with insulating asphalt materials.

Obeid also warned of the dam's so-called "dead level," which prevents the operation of the turbines, which are vertical turbines and require a water pressure of at least 40 meters to operate efficiently. He explained that any additional drop of just a few centimeters could put the dam out of service, either temporarily or permanently, depending on the amount of water flow.

He pointed out that the current amount of water flow does not exceed 250 m3 per second, which is less than half the amount agreed upon under the agreements between Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. He denied the veracity of the news circulating on social media regarding an increase in water flow, describing them as "baseless rumors."

To rationalize water use, the flow of water through the two irrigation intake gates was reduced from 90 to 70 m3 per second. Electricity generation hours were also reduced to preserve the remaining water reserve.

Although the Euphrates Dam has four of its eight operational power generating sets, each with a capacity of 110 megawatts (MW), with a combined capacity of 440 MW for the four operational turbines, their actual current output does not exceed 60 to 65 MW due to the sharp drop in water levels.

Obeid concluded by recalling a similar experience at the Tishrin Dam, which was previously out of service for a week due to low water levels before being partially re-operated after the shortage was compensated.

ANHA