"Hendrik van Rooyen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] | This really intrigues me - how do you program a dam? - and why is it | critical? | | Most dams just hold water back.
Most big dams also generate electricity. Even without that, dams do not just hold water back, they regulate the flow over a year or longer cycle. A full dam is great for power generation and useless for flood control. An empty dam is great for flood control and useless for power generation. So both power generation and bypass release must be regulated in light of current level, anticipated upstream precipitation, and downstream obligations. Downstream obligations can include both a minimum flow rate for downstream users and a maximum rate so as to not flood downstream areas. tjr -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
