ABSTRACT
Switzerland is considered the water tower of Europe because of its topographically, and hydrologically favourable conditions with abundant water resources. The headwaters of Europe’s major rivers Rhine and Rhône as well as relevant tributaries to the Danube and Po rivers, namely Inn and Ticino, respectively, are in the Swiss Alps. In lack of other major natural resources to generate electricity, the country has therefore been greatly exploiting its water resources since an early stage through the construction of storage hydropower schemes with regulating dams, now accounting for a good half of Switzerland’s total annual hydropower production.
Although most of the Swiss dams were built for hydropower generation, they also increasingly provide considerable benefits as multipurpose reservoirs in terms of storage for natural hazards protection as well as agricultural, domestic, industrial and recreational scopes.
It is expected that the importance of hydropower storage on various time scales will continue to increase in the context of the envisaged renewable energy transition. Meanwhile, previously glaciated areas also offer sites for new multipurpose reservoirs. The expected challenges for Swiss dam engineering will be more and more interdisciplinary: operation and maintenance of ageing dams and hydropower plants, climate change adaptation, environmental compatibility and the increasing pressure for multipurpose exploitation of the water resources impose a comprehensive understanding and a participatory approach involving all stakeholders.
