Mosul Dam (Iraq)

Mosul Dam (Arabic: سد الموصل), formerly known as Saddam Dam (سد صدام), is the largest dam in Iraq. It is located on the Tigris river in the western governorate of Nineveh, upstream of the city of Mosul. The dam serves to generate hydroelectricity and provide water for downstream irrigation. At full capacity, the structure holds about 11.1 cubic kilometres (2.7 cu mi) of water and provides electricity to the 1.7 million residents of Mosul. The dam's main 750-megawatt (1,010,000 hp) power station contains four 187.5-megawatt (251,400 hp) Francis turbine–generators. A pumped-storage hydroelectricity power plant with a capacity of 250 megawatts (340,000 hp) and a run-of-the-river dam downstream with a 62-megawatt (83,000 hp) capacity also belong to the Mosul Dam scheme. It is the fourth largest dam in the Middle East, as measured by reserve capacity, capturing snowmelt from Turkey, some 70 miles (110 km) north. Built in the 1980s on a karst foundation, concerns over the dam's instability have led to major remediation and rehabilitation efforts since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.