Full - as seen in the Western Mail on Saturday 11th May 2018.
Caban Coch dam in full flow after a lot of rain locally. Caban Coch is the simplest of the Elan Valley dams, being in effect a big wall without the towers or bridges that the other dams have. So when the reservoir reaches capacity, the extra water flows over the top to form this amazing waterfall. The dam face is deliberately 'lumpy' to help to slow the water down a bit and hence reduce it's erosive force. The two structures at the base of the dam are regulators that let water flow out and hence meet the legal requirement of a minimum water flow into the Elan River that was written into the Act of Parliament that governed the contruction of the dams. At times of flood like this, nature takes over and there is no need for the regulators to operate.
The catchment area is 180 Sq Kilometers, and the area gets an average of 1830mm of rain per year, and it all comes togther at this point. From here 360 million litres of water per day is sent down the pipes to Birmingham.
Full - as seen in the Western Mail on Saturday 11th May 2018.
Caban Coch dam in full flow after a lot of rain locally. Caban Coch is the simplest of the Elan Valley dams, being in effect a big wall without the towers or bridges that the other dams have. So when the reservoir reaches capacity, the extra water flows over the top to form this amazing waterfall. The dam face is deliberately 'lumpy' to help to slow the water down a bit and hence reduce it's erosive force. The two structures at the base of the dam are regulators that let water flow out and hence meet the legal requirement of a minimum water flow into the Elan River that was written into the Act of Parliament that governed the contruction of the dams. At times of flood like this, nature takes over and there is no need for the regulators to operate.
The catchment area is 180 Sq Kilometers, and the area gets an average of 1830mm of rain per year, and it all comes togther at this point. From here 360 million litres of water per day is sent down the pipes to Birmingham.