During the past 50 years, due to dam construction, many rivers globally have been changed and diverted river basins. Some 40-80 million people were forced to move from their dwelling places. This had many serious socio-economic, cultural and environment impacts. Iran has also in the area of the large dams particularly for many of the people residing in the nearby reservoirs, socio-economic impact have been to a large extent. The present study will review the impact of the Gotvand Olia (upper Gotvand) on the river of Karoon.In this relation geographical,environmental,economic and socio charactristics, the coefficient and review of the variables will be also analyzed and the results presented. Furthermore, in order to strategize using the SWOT grid and with various socio-economic and cultural variations will be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed.

Monitoring and \ evaluating \ earth-rock fill dams in different \ stages of their lifetime including \ construction \ impounding, rapid drawdown and earthquake occurrences \ are important for \ improvement of dam \ monitoring, safety control and stability. Historically, earthquakes have \ caused severe damages and human losses. The destruction of infrastructures, such as dams, is of high concern because of financial and human losses caused by water flowing downstream into densely populated human settlements. Based on the world's earthquake data, rock fill dams showed different behaviors under earthquake conditions, ranging from minor damage and deformation to complete destruction. In the present study the Gotvand dam, one of the largest rock fill dams in Iran has been focused on. In this study, the largest dams' cross-section was modeled and evaluated using two dimensional finite- element software, FLAC4.0. The back analyses results compared with data collected from instrumentation and characterized materials' properties exactly. In numerical analysis, regarding the nonlinear nature of geo-mechanic materials such as soil, the Mohr-Columb constitutive rule and the hardening- softening models used to simulate the material behavior in foundation and dam body respectively. Under elastic conditions, the main assumptions include; 1) increasing the internal friction angle with increasing the plastic strain; 2) dependence of material's elastic modulus and dilation angle on confining pressure; 3) bulk modulus of water dependence in a medium tension stress of the elements during the construction and first impounding to estimate the pore water pressure correctly and saturation collapse simulation during the first impounding. The model was ran for five years after impounding until it reached a steady state. The Mohr-Columb nonlinear constitutive model through Massing-Finn rules was used to simulate the nonlinear and hysteretic behavior of soil and rock materials under earthquake condition. The dynamic analysis is performed to predict the displacement of the Gotvand dam under the maximum credible earthquake (MCE) condition. The type of acceleration time history and the magnitude of input acceleration are also investigated to predict the dynamic behavior of the dam including deformations on the design based earthquake (DBE), the maximum design earthquake (MDE), and MCE. The maximum settlement of the dam core due to application of the Manjil earthquake is equal to 1.94 meters, and the maximum horizontal deformations are 1.30 and 1.19 meters in upstream and downstream shells, respectively. The results showed that the dam deformations were highly influenced by the magnitude of the earthquakes and the acceleration time history.

Gotvand olia dam is the highest embankment dam in Iran. this dam is the last dam  built on the Karun River before entering khuzestan plain in gotvand area.
the main worry of the analyst before the gotvand dam impoundment, has been the dissolution of the anbal salt in the reservoir of the dam and affected the karun water at the bottom of the dam. the aim of this study was checking the effects of gotvand dam impoundment on the water quality of karun river during the years 2001 to 2016 at the gotvand section. in this research, non-parametric tests of Mann-Kandal and Pettit were used to evaluate the trend and determine the break point and the SDI index was used to calculate the hydrological drought of time series. The results showed that in recent years the salinity of the karun river has increased. the main cause is the decrease of river flow from the water year 2007-2008 and continuation until now. Therefore, increasing salinity of the karun river has started three years before the dam impoundment. As a result, the dam impoundment has not changed the quality of water in the gotvand regulatory dam.

Importance of optimal use of water resources is one of the factors of necessity of restudying of existing water projects, particularly dams and power plants. Therefore, according to the expansion of the capacity of Gotvand power plant up to 1640 megawatts, maximizing its performance is the main driver of this research. One of the objectives of optimization model developed for optimum performance of Gotvand power plant is maximizing of the value of the produced energy using a proposed combined value. Also, another objective is minimizing of the difference between maximum and minimum hourly release from the Gotvand regulation dam. Based on the results of the optimization model, the optimal power plant performance capacity was proposed according to the combination of 4 units of 250 MW and 4 units of 160 MW (1640 MW in total). In order to determine installed capacity of the Gotvand regulation power plant, a simulation was done for 64 years, in an hourly time step, by considering the downstream conditions and reservoir limitations. The results showed that optimum installed capacity is 50 to 60 megawatts.

Gotvand-Olia as one of the largest constructional projects in Iran has been constructed on the Karoun River, between Masjed Soleiman and Gotvand Regulatory dam in Khuzestan Province. It is situated in 382.8 km away from the river estuary at a distance of 25 km north of Shoushtar city. This study was conducted to identify and assess the risk of Gotvand-Olia dam on the environment at the operational phase. As a part of the management of water resources, the dam is one of the most important structures playing a major role in the regulation of surface flows, especially in the areas that have poor spatial and temporal distribution of rainfalls. Due to developments in dam construction in the world and particularly in Iran, the need to assess the environmental impacts of dams is very important. Environmental risk assessment is able to establish a relationship between the impacts of unwanted events with those that are not catastrophic. The quantitative risk assessment provides evident objectivity and transparency in the assessment of the impacts. The current study aims at assessing the risk of Gotvand-Olia dam at the operational phase. Accordingly, after reviewing the relevant literatures, field studies, and interviewing with expertise and research team, a questionnaire was designed to identify the potential risks during the operational phase. According to the studies conducted in the field of dam risks in the world and particularly in Iran as well as the technical and environmental reports on the Gotvand-Olia dam, the risk factors of the operational period were identified at first using the checklist of the PHA Method and were then assessed by EFMEA. In FMEA, techniques to obtain have degrees of severity, probability, and extent of contamination. After obtaining, the three number can be calculated through the formula Risk Priority Number (RPN)= Severity of risk × Event Risk × Extent of contamination. Subsequently, a list of potential risk factors at the operational phase was included in the questionnaire and placed at disposal of the individuals who were expert on dam and environment. Afterwards, considering the current situation of the study area, overall risk options at the operational phase (21 cases) were classified in the form of physicochemical, biological, socioeconomic, cultural, health-safety, and natural hazards using the PHA checklist. To make a decision on acceptance or rejection of risks, statistical methods were applied to prioritize risk factors and specify their hazardous level due to lack of prioritization of the risks in EFMEA. Accordingly, the high-level risks were identified.

Gotvand-Olya Dam is located near Gotvand City, 25 km north of Shooshtar city in Khozestan province. The present research aimed at investigation on the influence of outcrop formations in the reservoir on the water quality (concentration of anions and cations, TDS, EC, and concentration of heavy metal strontium) at three levels of 150, 200, and 250 m. The results showed that Gachsaran and Mishan formations release the highest concentrations of anions and cations to the water in all three levels respectively. Concentration of strontium was especially high in the Gachsaran formation which is justified by the significant correlation between strontium and basic and sulfate environments. According to the effect of solubility rate of the Gachsaran formation in the levels of 150 and 200 m on the water quality after filling the dam, EC of water was estimated to be 36632 and 28872 S/cm respectively which is classified as very high saline water. The results have also shown that the salinity drops significantly at the level of 250 m and the water at this level is classified as high saline water. In the case of the effect of the Mishan formation, the classification of water in the three levels are the same as Gachsaran formation, only EC at the level of 200 m is more than the two other levels.

Climate change and human activities, including dams, are keywords in water resources management that directly affect water ‎exchanges between surface and groundwater resources. The purpose of this study is to determine the ‎contribution of human activities (dam construction) and climate change (hydrological drought) ‎on the water resources of the Karun River. For this purpose, the study area of Gotvand-Aghili was selected. By analyzing ‎the Iranian matrix, the effects of dam construction on water resources were determined. ‎The results showed that there are 6 and 4 negative effects ‎in the column and row respectively. However, the matrix shows that the consequence and impact of tourism development and ‎recreational activity and surface water quality are less than -3.1. Continuously, to determine the contribution of climate change in ‎water resources, hydrological and hydrogeological drought indices were calculated over ‎an 11-year statistical period. The results of comparing the electrical conductivity in the sampled points show a significant increase that was consistent with the ‎results of the Iranian matrix. Comparison of SDI and GRI indices shows that from ‎‎2012 to 2015, there was no hydrological and hydrogeological drought in the region, ‎and based on this, part of the aquifer decline can be considered as a result of the ‎construction of the Gotvand Olya Dam. ‎

Drilling and blasting have numerous applications in civil and mining engineering. However, there are many unfavorable associated side effects and hazards, such as ground vibrations, air blasts, fly rocks, back-breaks, unwanted displacements, crack formation and propagation, and extended crushed zones, all of which need to be predicted and controlled effectively. Ground vibrations caused by blasting can damage the zones in the vicinity of the explosion block and its associated civilian structures and equipment. In addition to environmental and structural damages, air blasts can irreversibly damage the health by affecting the hearing sense and mental stability of the personnel. Damages to the front face, caused by open-pit and underground explosions, not only increase the maintenance costs, but also make the appearance unacceptable. An important factor in reducing hazards in controlled blasting is the prediction of crack formation around the blast-hole and its propagation, which has been the subject of research since early 1950’s using field experiments, analytical methods and numerical simulations, paving way for many semi empirical correlations presented in the literature on this matter. As a rule of thumb, the radius of the crushed zone and the length of the radial cracks, are assumed to be in the order of 3 to 5 times and 40 to 50 times that of explosive radius, respectively. Hence, the radius of the crushed zone and the radial crack lengths were evaluated to be 10.16 cm and 114 cm, respectively. In this study, the results of the field studies from single blast-holes in the mudstones of Gotvand Olya dam were compared with several empirical correlations, using a blast-hole of 76 mm diameter, 2 m depth, 1 kg emulate 27 charge and a single instantaneous electrical cap. Two seismometers of VIBROLOC placed 8 m and 13 m away from the blast-hole recorded the ground vibration at 17.22 and 9.02 mms-1, respectively. The crushed zone radius and the radial crack length were measured to be 25 cm and 90 cm, respectively. The crack propagation and the ground vibration were compared with the field study results using a UDEC discrete element method. In the simulation exercise, the dynamic loading on the surrounding walls of the blast hole were assumed to be uniform and in radial direction. Also, the blast was assumed to take place instantaneously along the cylindrical charge and the semi-empirical relationship of Liu and Tidman was used to evaluate the maximum detonation pressure produced. The simulation results included a variation in the peak particle velocity with respect to the distance from the blast hole centre, a variation in the particle displacement, a variation in the applied stresses caused by the shock wave travelling, reflecting the stress wave from a free face. The numerical analysis indicated the crushed zone radius and the radial crack length to be 20 and 90 cm, respectively. Also, the ground vibrations at 8 m and 13 m distances away from the blast-hole were simulated to be 17.2 mms-1 and 9.27 mms-1, respectively. Amongst the empirical correlations used, Ash correlation (1963) revealed a radial crack length of 110 cm, and Essen et al. (2003) evaluated a crushed zone radius of 19 cm, indicating more accurate estimations. This study indicates that the numerical analysis used is capable of presenting acceptable accuracy.