The Water Resources Directorate in Tartous has completed routine maintenance of its dams and weirs, ensuring the readiness of their gates, spillways, and outlets, in preparation for the rainy season and to mitigate flood risks.
Director Engineer Mohammad Maharriz told SANA on Thursday that the directorate oversees four dams designated for irrigation and drinking water, noting that the storage capacity of Al-Abresh Dam reaches 103 million cubic meters, Khalifa Dam 3 million cubic meters, Al-Sawrani Dam 4.5 million cubic meters, and Ad-Derikesh Dam 6 million cubic meters.
Maharriz indicated that maintenance works included inspecting control gates, spillways, outlets, and electrical panels, and verifying the readiness of rainwater drains. He noted that the water stock in Al-Abresh Dam reached 56 million cubic meters, Khalifa Dam 3 million cubic meters, Al-Sawrani Dam 4.3 million cubic meters, and Ad-Derikesh Dam 3 million cubic meters.
Maharriz explained that water inflows contribute to enhancing water reserves and recharging groundwater, while surplus water flows to the sea via rivers and watercourses, due to the nature of open coastal hydrological basins that do not allow for storing all surplus water.
For his part, Al-Abresh Dam Director Engineer Karim Al-Maw’i confirmed the completion of necessary maintenance works for the governorate’s dams, which included testing gates, maintaining lower outlets, and calibration and monitoring devices. He clarified that handling heavy rainfall depends on water levels; inflows are stored when levels are low, while surplus is gradually discharged through spillways and outlets when necessary.
Al-Maw’i explained that dam safety is monitored by measuring water levels in piezometric wells and tracking subsidence, displacements, seepage, drainage prism intensity, and water turbidity. He noted that these measurements are taken weekly or daily if necessary and documented in monthly reports to monitor the technical condition of the structures.
Al-Maw’i affirmed that the recorded technical indicators are within design limits and that the governorate’s dams and operational facilities are ready to receive the rainy season and heavy rainfall, ensuring the safety of structures and mitigating flood risks.
These measures come within the framework of enhancing the readiness of water structures to face rainfall, ensuring the discharge of surplus water, and utilizing water inflows to support reserves and secure the needs of the agricultural sector during the upcoming season.
The workshops of the Water Resources Directorate in Tartous governorate completed desilting and cleaning of water culverts on the Wadi Al-Hada stream, at its intersection with public roads within the Yabroud municipality sector, on October 31, to improve rainwater drainage and prevent accumulation during heavy rainfall.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
Comments (0)