Tabaqa Dam in Al-Thawrah, the largest dam in Syria
Al-Thawrah is a city in Syria. It is located about 55 km west of Al-Raqqah. The city was built near the Tabaqah Dam on the Euphrates. The name “Al-Thawrah” can be translated as “the revolution” and refers to the March 8th revolution. 65,000 people live in Al-Thawrah.
Lake Assad ©Flickr loufi
The Tabaqa Dam or al-Thawra Dam is a dam made of compacted earth on the Euphrates near the city of Ar-Raqqah. The dam is with 60 m height and 4.5 km length Syria’s largest dam. Through its construction, Lake Assad was formed which is Syria’s largest water reservoir. The dam was finished in the year 1973.
The Euphrates was used to fill the lake behind the dam in 1975 which led to a dispute between Syria and Iraq. Iraq complained about receiving less water from the Euphrates than normal and asked the Arab League to intervene. Iraq and Syria sent troops to their border, and Iraq even threatened to bomb the Dam.
In 1975, an agreement was reached and Syria increased the flow from the dam. The dam’s main purpose was to generate hydroelectric power.