| Samarra Dam | |
|---|---|
| Location | Directly east of Samarra, Salah ad Din Governorate, Iraq |
| Opening date | 1956 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Tigris River |
| 75 MW capacity hydro-electricity station | |
Samarra Dam or Barrage (Arabic: سد سامَرّاء) and Thar Thar Dam or Barrage (Arabic: سد الثَرثار)is a multi-purpose dam on the Tigris River adjacent (west) of Samarra and north of Baghdad, Iraq. The main purpose of the dam is to divert floodwater in the Tigris River to Lake Tharthar through the Thar Thar depression along with irrigation and a 75 MW hydro-electricity station.
It had been hoped that stored water from this dam and its counter-part project, the Ramadi Barrage might be used for irrigation during the summer months, but it was discovered that the very large evaporation losses, together with the dissolution of salts from the soils of the depressions, seriously diminished water quality and rendered it unsuitable for irrigation purposes. [1]