Premium
Dam safety effects due to human alteration of extreme precipitation
Author(s) -
Hossain Faisal,
Jeyachandran Indumathi,
Pielke Roger
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2009wr007704
Subject(s) - hydrometeorology , precipitation , vulnerability (computing) , arch dam , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , climatology , civil engineering , engineering , geography , geology , geotechnical engineering , meteorology , computer science , computer security , arch
Very little is known about the vulnerability of dams and reservoirs to man‐made alteration of extreme precipitation and floods as we step into the 21st century. This is because conventional dam and reservoir design over the last century has been “one‐way” with no acknowledgment of the possible feedback mechanisms affecting the regional water cycle. Although the notion that an impoundment could be built to increase rainfall was suggested more than 60 years ago, dam design protocol in civil engineering continues to assume as “static” the statistical parameters of a low exceedance probability precipitation event during the lifespan of the dam. It is time for us to change our perceptions and embrace a hydrometeorological approach to dam design and operations.