Yusufeli Dam
The Yusufeli Dam is an arch dam under construction on the Çoruh River near Yusufeli in Artvin Province within the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. The Yusufeli Dam will be the second largest dam within the larger Çoruh River Development Plan, which plans to build 13 dams, of which two are operational and another two are under construction. The dam's main purpose is hydroelectric power production and it will support a 540 MW power station. The dam is controversial because of its projected impact on the biodiversity within its reservoir area along with the relocation of locals.
On February 26, 2013, the foundation stone was laid in a ceremony attended by Minister of Forestry and Waterworks Veysel Eroğlu and Minister of Labor and Social Security Faruk Çelik. It is expected that the construction of the dam will cost 487 million. The dam's opening date was initially set to May 29, 2018. As of 2018, the expected opening date was delayed to 2021. When completed, Yusufeli Dam will be Turkey's highest.
History
The first studies on the Yusufeli Dam were carried out in the 1970s and it was included in the Coruh River Hydropower Development Master Plan in 1982. The feasibility report was completed in 1986 and the project was added to the national plan in 1997.Design
Situated southwest of Artvin, the Yusufeli will be a double-curvature arch dam with a height of from its foundation and from the river's thalweg. It will have a crest length of and crest width of while being composed of of concrete.The dam's crest will sit at an altitude of above sea level while the normal operating level of its reservoir will be, maximum will be and the minimum. The reservoir surface area of will have a total storage capacity of and an active or "useful" storage of. The dam's spillway will be a service controlled chute type with a maximum discharge capacity of.
The dam will have an underground power station that is long, wide and high. Within the power station will be 3 x 180 MW vertical shaft Francis turbines.
Design activities will be carried out by Su-Yapi Engineering and Consulting Inc.
Construction is to be carried out by a Limak Holding-Cengiz Holding-Kolin consortium.
Projected biological impacts
If built, Yusufeli Dam is expected to have significant biological impacts including:- Adversely affecting 21 nationally listed threatened plant species, of which all except one are endemic to Turkey. Of these threatened species 2 taxa are limited to Yusufeli and its surroundings, 8 are limited to the Çoruh Valley, and 6 to the Artvin-Erzurum area. Turkish Red Book for Plants shows that of these, 7 species are critically endangered, 5 are endangered and 9 are vulnerable.
- Adversely affecting 12 nationally listed threatened mammal species including the; wild goat, chamois, Persian squirrel, forest dormouse, brown bear, Eurasian badger, gray wolf, Mediterranean horseshoe bat, lesser horseshoe bat, greater mouse-eared bat, Schreibers’ bat and pipistrelle bat. Of these species the Mediterranean bat and wild goat are internationally listed on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Adversely affecting 2 nationally threatened fish species, the Black Sea salmon and brown trout. The Black Sea salmon's migration will be blocked because of this and the other planned and built dams. Existing populations of fish will be adversely affected by the construction of the dam and another 6 species populations may not recover due to the reduction of creek and river habitat needed for breeding.
- Potentially adversely affecting 5 butterfly and 1 dragonfly regionally rare species of which 2 are listed in the IUCN Red List Pyrgus cirsii and Onychogomphus assimilis.
| Species | Endemic | Threat level | Distribution in Turkey |
| Reseda globosa | No | Critically endangered | Coruh Valley |
| Lathyrus woronowii | Endemic | Critically endangered | Coruh Valley |
| Ferula mervinii | Endemic | Critically endangered | Yusufeli & its vicinity |
| Anthemis calcarea var calcarea | Endemic | Critically endangered | Artvin-Erzurum |
| Anthemis calcarea var discoidea | Endemic | Critically endangered | Artvin-Erzurum |
| Centaurea straminicephala | Endemic | Critically endangered | Coruh Valley |
| Centaurea leptophylla | Endemic | Critically endangered | Yusufeli & its vicinity |
| Clypeola raddeana | Endemic | Endangered | Coruh Valley |
| Morina persica var decussatifolia | Endemic | Endangered | Artvin-Erzurum |
| Campanula troegeraeƒ | Endemic | Endangered | Artvin-Erzurum |
| Verbascum gracilescens | Endemic | Endangered | Coruh Valley |
| Asperula virgata | Endemic | Endangered | Coruh Valley |
| Acer divergens var divergens | Endemic | Vulnerable | Coruh Valley |
| Sempervivum staintonii | Endemic | Vulnerable | Coruh Valley |
| Seseli andronakii | Endemic | Vulnerable | Artvin-Erzurum |
| Bupleurum brachiatum | Endemic | Vulnerable | Middle & East Blacksea |
| Bupleurum schistosum | Endemic | Vulnerable | Coruh Valley |
| Centaurea pecho | Endemic | Vulnerable | East Blacksea |
| Centaurea hedgei | Endemic | Vulnerable | Artvin-Erzurum |
| Linaria genistifolia subsp artivinensis | Endemic | Vulnerable | Coruh Valley |
| Iris taochia | Endemic | Vulnerable | East Blacksea |