The historic kurit dam: An illustrative example of water wisdom

Abstract

The historic Kurit Dam near Tabas, Iran, has regulated the Kurit River for irrigation for 600years and can be considered a symbol of sustainability. The arch-gravity dam is especially remarkable for its extraordinary height of 60m. This was to remain a world record for any type of dam from 1350 until the early twentieth century. The former president of ICOLD referred to the Kurit Dam as one of the most astounding achievements in dam engineering in the Middle Ages. Despite the fact that the dam was built 650years ago, it still serves as an illustrative example of creativity, harmony with floods, sustainable development and coping with uncertainties. Unfortunately overlooking the valuable water wisdom of past generations, a modern dam was constructed just upstream of the historic dam. When, 6years after impoundment, the new dam remained virtually empty due to error in estimating the river inflow, the canniness of the builders of the old dam became evident. This paper seeks to reveal the engineering genius of Iranian history to provide an example of the intergenerational and multicultural collaboration demanded by the global climate challenges of today. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.