WATCH: Water in Dukan Dam reaches bell-mouth spillway for first time in 31 years

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Due to weeks of torrential rainfall, water in the autonomous Kurdistan Region’s Dukan Dam on Tuesday reached the bell-mouth spillway for the first time since 1988.

Heavy rainfall over the past few months has affected many provinces in the autonomous Kurdistan Region and Iraq, damaging bridges, roads, and properties.

The poor weather has considerably filled local dams in the region, including the Darbandikhan Dam, which despite reassurances from authorities, some activists question the site’s ability to withstand the risk of falling after a powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake damaged it in 2017.

On Tuesday, people posted videos online of the dam reaching its maximum level of water storage. The video below shows the instances when water filled the dam in 1988 and recently in 2019.

Located in the Sulaimani province, the Dukan Dam is a concrete arch dam built between 1954 and 1959 as a multi-purpose site to provide water storage, irrigation, and hydroelectricity.

The dam is 360 meters (1,180 feet) long and 116.5 meters (382 feet) high. Its hydroelectric power station has a maximum capacity of 400 MW.

Experts believe the surplus water flow into the spillway could cause floods in other southern areas that could become uncontrollable should the flow continue.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany