Dams as Systems

A common view of a dam is to think of the major water retention structure(s) (the dam) that was built to create the reservoir. However, it is more realistic to view the dam as a system; a system of structures (natural and man-made), the reservoir and its boundaries, mechanical and electrical components, and operators. More importantly, the successful performance of a dam system depends on the aggregate satisfactory performance of the system that prevents a failure and uncontrolled release of the reservoir.