This issue of Dams and Reservoirs focuses on the 91st annual meeting of the International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD), which was held in June 2023 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and was known as ICOLD 2023.
ICOLD was founded in 1928 and has National Committees from more than 100 countries, with the British Dam Society being the British National Committee of ICOLD. ICOLD convenes annual meetings which allow delegates from all over the world to share experiences and knowledge with their peers.
ICOLD 2023 comprised a series of symposia, workshops, short courses, technical committee meetings and technical study tours. This issue of Dams and Reservoirs contains a number of briefing notes on a small selection of the many items that were included in the technical programme.
ICOLD 2023 took place only four months after the earthquakes that affected Türkiye and Syria so badly in February 2023. Immediately after the earthquakes many dams in Türkiye were examined by the country's engineers, and one presentation gave a summary of how a selection of dams was affected. This presentation is summarised by a briefing note (Kula, 2023) which includes photographs showing the damage caused to several dams by these earthquakes.
A key component of any ICOLD annual meeting is the ability of the ICOLD Technical Committees to meet in person. Currently ICOLD has 37 Technical Committees that address technical issues related to the development and management of water resources. Each Technical Committee is given a mandate by the ICOLD General Assembly and typically works for three or four years. Its works are published as a ‘Technical Bulletin’. To date 186 Technical Bulletins have been published and are available for purchase. However, members of a national committee, such as the British Dam Society, can download Technical Bulletins at no charge.
The UK has representatives on a number of ICOLD Technical Committees, and briefing notes on the activities of three of those committees, as reported at ICOLD 2023, and progress with the production of their technical bulletins, are included in this issue.
A list of the current ICOLD Technical Committees is given at https://www.icold-cigb.org/GB/icold/technical_committees.asp. Anyone with an interest in serving on one of these committees should contact their own National Committee of ICOLD. The UK representatives on ICOLD technical committees, and current vacancies, can be found on the BDS website at: https://britishdams.org/assets/documents/Web%20Ref%20Docs/ICOLD%20Technical%20Committees%20-%20UK%20Representatives%20-%20June%202019.pdf.
This issue also includes briefing notes for three of the workshops or symposia attended by UK delegates, namely:
Regulation and management for ensuring dam safety.
The operational safety of dams and reservoirs.
The safety of concrete dams; their durability and their materials.
In all these events examples from around the world were given, helping delegates to learn from the experiences of others. These briefing notes give just an indication of the many and varied topics covered by ICOLD 2023.
Lower Carno Reservoir
Although not relating to ICOLD 2023, this issue of Dams and Reservoirs includes a paper about a Welsh reservoir that was unable to be included in the last issue. Williams and Hill (2023) tell how problems in a masonry spillway chute were investigated, describe the dam safety management plan and key aspects of the design and construction of the new works. The paper also includes a number of recommendations which are essential reading for any reservoir engineers involved with masonry-lined spillways.
ASDSO Dam Safety Toolbox
In the previous issue of Dams and Reservoirs, Brown and McCullough (2023) referred to a conference of the American Society of Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO). Since that conference ASDSO has created an on-line Dam Safety Toolbox (ASDSO, 2023). It is, in fact, far more than a toolbox, it is rather a library of a wide range of dam-related topics, giving access to current state-of-the-art practice and guidance.
For the general public or professionals new to dams it covers the fundamentals, for example the purpose of dams, types of dams and the anatomy of dams (identifying the various components of a dam and reservoir).
For dam professionals there are two main sections. The Technical Topics section covers hydrology, hydraulics and seismic aspects amongst other subjects, while Dam Safety Management section covers subjects such as operation and maintenance, public safety and dam decommissioning, to name but a few. Each subject explains the topic in some detail and provides links to a number of references, a range of best practice resources and several on-demand webinar training sessions.
Discussion on Tarbela Reservoir
A paper regarding siltation in Tarbela reservoir by Rashid et al. (2023) in the previous issue of Dams and Reservoirs has prompted a discussion note by Roca and Petkovsek (2023), who have also worked on siltation of that reservoir, and have provided some useful complementary information.
Book Review: Earthquake Engineering for Dams and Reservoirs
Finally in this issue is a review of a just-published book edited by Jonathan Hinks which promises to be indispensable reading for dam engineers designing, maintaining or operating dams in areas of the world where there is the potential for damaging earthquakes.
