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Brokopondo Reservoir
The Brokopondo Reservoir, officially named Professor Doctor Ingenieur W. J. van Blommestein Meer, and also called the Brokopondostuwmeer, is a large reservoir in the South American country Suriname. It is named after the Surakarta-born Dutch hydrological engineer Willem Johan van Blommestein. With a surface area of approximately 1,560 km² (602 mi²), depending on the current water level, it is one of the largest reservoirs in the world, flooding nearly one percent of the country.
History
The reservoir was created by constructing Afobaka Dam across the Suriname River between 1961 and 1964. The dam spanning the river is 54 m (177 ft) tall, and is built near the small town of Afobaka. Contrary to the reservoir's long official name, it was quickly rechristened Brokopondomeer by Dutch-speaking locals, after the town of Brokopondo two miles further downstream from where the dam was constructed. The length of the dam, including secondary dams along the margins of the reservoir, is 12 km (7.5 mi). The watershed which feeds the reservoir is 12,200 km² (4,710 mi²) in area.
Afobaka Dam
The Afobaka Dam is an embankment dam with a main gravity dam section on the Suriname River near Afobaka in Brokopondo District of Suriname. The primary purpose of the dam is to generate hydroelectric power and it supports a 180 MW power station. In 1958, Suriname Aluminum Company LLC (Suralco), a subsidiary of Alcoa, gained an agreement with the Suriname government to build the dam to power an aluminium smelter. Construction began in 1961 and it was completed in 1964. About 75% of power generated is used for processing aluminum, the rest is used in Paramaribo downstream. The power station was operational in 1965 but the very large reservoir, Brokopondo Reservoir, was not completely filled until 1971. Greenhouse gases emitted from the reservoir resulted in poor water quality for decades. Highly acidic water also damaged the power station's turbines.
References
Afobaka
Afobaka is a village in the Brokopondo District of Suriname. Between 1960 and 1964, the 1913 meter-long Afobaka Dam was built on the Suriname River, creating the Brokopondo Reservoir. The Afobaka Airstrip is nearby.
Coordinates: 4°59′N 54°59′W / 4.983°N 54.983°W
