Elan Valley Reservoirs
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The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes in Wales, west of Rhayader, (also known as the "Welsh Lake District"), using the rivers Elan and Claerwen. The reservoirs are Claerwen, Craig Goch, Pen-y-Gareg, Careg-ddu, and Caban Coch.
The reservoirs were constructed early in the 20th century to supply clean water to the Birmingham area.
They played an important role in World War II when the 35 ft. high Nant-y-Gro dam was used by the Dambusters to practise for the breaching of the dams in the Ruhr Valley. The remains of the breached Nant-y-Gro dam can still be seen today in the same state as it was left in 1942, although nature took over, and trees make it difficult to locate the dam.
In the 1970's it was proposed that the Craig Goch reservoir should be substantially increased in size with a new and higher down-stream dam together with an upstream dam to contain water that would otherwise have flowed down the Ystwyth valley. The proposals were eventually abandoned in the face of reducing projections for industrial water demand and an increasing awareness of the environmental problems that such an expansion might create.
When construction of the dams was complete, most of the Elan Valley "navvies" (construction workers) moved on to the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire. The Derwent Dam was also used by the Dambusters for practice, though it was not breached.
The reservoirs are now owned by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.
External Links
- Dambusters at Nant-y-Gro dam (http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/nantygro.html)
- Aerial Photo of Claerwen (http://www.gtj.org.uk/item.php?lang=en&id=12318&t=1)