Reservoirs can make local flooding worse, says study. By: Soon Qi Wei

The scientists found that rain patterns around bodies of water in Chile were much higher than in similar areas without them. This "lake effect" could overwhelm flood defenses which are often built without taking it into account. The study has been accepted for publication in the journal Hydrology. Chile has a large variety of climates ranging from areas that get 0mm of annual rainfall to places that get more that 4,500mm. The scientists found that the most intense rainfall was measured at weather stations located near water bodies, especially in drier climates.

I believe that this is a very important discovery as this would help plan suitable locations for more builds of reservoirs in the future. Even with latest and most advanced technology in dam making, with local reservoirs placed closely to places that would likely flood, flooding would still occur. Furthermore, engineers are the people who get blamed for flooding due to bad designs, some engineers also got fired. However, this is not the case as even with the greatest designs, the impacts of the nearby dams are just too great. This discovery might help clear up some questions on why constant flooding happens. To read more, click here!