page_title: Check dam
section_title: Arid regions
hierarchical_section_title: Check dam / Applications / Arid regions
caption_attribution_description: English: Log Dam May Qoqah
context_page_description: A check dam is a small, sometimes temporary, dam constructed across a swale, drainage ditch, or waterway to counteract erosion by reducing water flow velocity. Check dams themselves are not a type of new technology; rather, they are an ancient technique dating from the second century A.D. Check dams are typically, though not always, implemented in a system of several dams situated at regular intervals across the area of interest.
context_section_description: In arid areas, check dams are often built to increase groundwater recharge in a process called managed aquifer recharge. Winter runoff thus can be stored in aquifers, from which the water can be withdrawn during the dry season for irrigation, livestock watering, and even drinking water supply. This is particularly useful for small settlements located far from a large urban center as check dams require less reliance on machinery, funding, or advanced understandings as compared to large-scale dam implementation.
  Check dams can be used in combination with limans to stop and collect surface runoff water.
caption: Boulder-faced log dam in Maygwa, Ethiopia
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