People have been creating reservoirs for thousands of years. The oldest known dam in the world is the Jawa Dam in what is now Jordan. It was built in about 3000 BCE to store water to use for irrigation, or watering crops. People build reservoirs because the amount of water in a river varies over time.

Who invented reservoirs?

In 1887, Harriet Strong patented her invention of a system of dams and reservoirs for water storage and flood control. Her system was a series of dams placed so that the water in a lower basin would act as a brace for the dams above, and also allowed for the collection of water until needed.

When were UK reservoirs built?

Between 1796 and 1850, 28 earth dams over 15 m high were built for water supply in the British Isles and 141 between 1850 and 1900, three of which were concrete gravity dams. Today, there are some 1,300 dams in the British Isles of which some 90 are hydroelectric supply dams.