DAMS AND FLOOD CONTROL

Abstract: Floods are a natural process in which the river spills over its banks. Hazards occur when the population occupy these areas during a sequence of small floods. In South America flood impacts have occurred mainly due to the lack of flood plain management. Flood hazards in some communities on the banks of major rivers have had major social and economic impacts which can be seen many years after the event. There is an explicit conflict between dams for energy production and their use to for flood control. In the Brazilian electricity sector, these dams have been operated since the end of the 1970s, with a waiting volume that aims not only at improving their safety but also at reducing the impact of floods. In this article, the potential impacts of dams are stressed, with operational features for flood control and the description of a conflict generated between a hydropower dam and the community of two cities. FLOODS Floods may occur due to the natural conditions or those generated by land use, such as urbanization or hydraulic structures. In this article we will discuss the natura