[Repeal The 17th]

I don’t know...something bothers me about the whole idea...
I have a problem with the concept of building something like that
and capturing that much emery and having no way of neutralizing it.
Like charging a capacitor with no way of grounding it,
or building a bomb with no way to defuse it.
I know they put two ‘bottom drains’ in the original design, but
they did not have the capacity to handle the river load,
and are currently non-functional.

[EarthResearcher333]

Dams have been very instrumental in regulating flood conditions (via a reservoir buffer & controlled releases). The immense need for water for agriculture & the public created a necessity for managing (capturing) a precious resource.

Your analogy of the charged cap & live bomb is accurate. There cannot be any major flaws - especially in safety factor & redundancies. Losing a dam is not an option.