Citation
Wilson, H.C. (2001), "USIO Landslide Dam and Lake Sarez", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 110-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2001.10.2.110.2
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Lake Sarez in the Pamir mountains of Tajikstan was created in 1911 when an enormous landslide blocked the Murgab River valley. The natural dam, which was named Usoi after a village buried by the landslide, impounded Lake Sarez. With a height of 600m, the Usoi landslide dam is the highest dam in the world. Because the dam is not an engineered structure and because of the large volume of water it contains, questions have been asked both nationally and internationally regarding the stability of this structure.
This report presents of the reconnaissance mission to Lake Sarez in June 1999. The mission consisted of a combined group of Tajik and expatriate scientists who studied the dam and lake, as well as the inhabitants and environment of the Bartang valley. The team members concluded that the probability of a massive outburst flood from Lake Sarez was low in the near to mid term, but, should such a flood occur, the impact on the downstream valley would be devastating.