Country Iran Opening date 2015 (est.) | Status Under construction Construction began 2004 | |
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Location Lahijan-e Gharbi Rural District, Lajan District, Piranshahr County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran Purpose Inter basin transfer, Irrigation Owner(s) West Azerbaijan Regional Water Authority Similar Lake Urmia, Upper Gotvand Dam, Daryan Dam, Embankment dam | ||
The Silveh Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam being constructed on the Lavin River just downstream of the village of Silveh in Piranshahr County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. The primary purpose of the dam is interbasin transfer for irrigation. When complete, a tunnel and canals will shift water from the reservoir north to the Chaparabad area. The project will essentially transfer water from the Little Zab River basin to the Lake Urmia basin in an effort to help replenish the lake and irrigate about 9,400 ha (23,000 acres) of farmland. Construction on the dam began in 2004 and it is expected to be complete by the end of 2015. The village of Silveh will be flooded when the reservoir is impounded.
The dam will be 102 m (335 ft) above its foundation with a length of 750 m (2,460 ft). It will have an uncontrolled spillway with a maximum discharge capacity of 1,040 m3/s (37,000 cu ft/s). The reservoir created by the dam will store 163,000,000 m3 (132,000 acre·ft) of water. Near the northeastern edge of the reservoir water will be able to enter a 841 m (2,759 ft) long tunnel which will discharge it into the opposing valley, within the Lake Urmia basin. About 121,700,000 m3 (98,700 acre·ft) of water will be transferred through the tunnel annually while an estimated 10,800,000 m3 (8,800 acre·ft) will be sent downstream to Piranshahr during the same period.