The History of the World Register of Dams

The History of the World Register of Dams

The World Register of Dams (WRD) is a fizzy fountain of information for design, construction, scientifical work and statistical work and statistical evaluations. The last census includes more than 62,000 large dams according to the definition of ICOLD (height at least of 15 m above the foundation or above 5 m with a capacity above 3 million of m³). For each dam more than 40 statistical information are given, amongst them geographical data, data of the dam, the spillway, the reservoir, the responsible as well as important environmental data…

It is worth to look back to the first attempts of creating a worldwide register of large dams corresponding to the ICOLD criteria of such dams.