The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) is the world’s leading professional organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of dam engineering. It promotes wise and sustainable development and management of the world’s water and hydropower resources, and the sharing of knowledge on mining and tailings dams.
The CDA is the ICOLD National Committee for Canada and provides representation at ICOLD meetings and on technical committees. For a history of Canada’s involvement in ICOLD, please see the Summer 2010 article in the CDA Bulletin.
CDA is a member of the regional group - ICOLD National Committees of the Americas (INCA) - and participates in INCA meetings and activities.
For information on CDA’s participation in ICOLD, contact director-at-large.icold@cda.ca or download the following reports below:
2018 CDA Report on ICOLD Participation
2016 CDA Report on ICOLD Participation
Through its Technical Committees, ICOLD provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in dam engineering and development of guidance publications. Canada is active on over 20 of ICOLD’s 24 technical committees, holding the role of chair on six committees.
ICOLD publishes Bulletins on topics of interest to dam owners, engineers and scientists. The Bulletins are available free for CDA members.
During the development of ICOLD Bulletins, the Draft Bulletins are issued for review and comment by the National Committees. CDA members are invited to participate in these reviews by contacting director-at-large.icold@cda.ca or the Canadian representatives to the relevant ICOLD Committee.
ICOLD organizes a meeting and international symposium every year, and a major congress every three years.
In 2019, CDA was proud to host the 87th ICOLD Symposium in Ottawa which saw more than 1,400 delegates from around the world.
87th ICOLD Symposium - Ottawa
The annual ICOLD event is the venue for workshops and meetings of technical committees that are at the heart of the organization’s mission. These are open to all delegates to the Symposium or Congress.
The most recent ICOLD Congress was held in France.
2022 ICOLD Annual Meeting and Congress – Marseilles, France, May 27-June 3, 2022
More information is available at http://cigb-icold2022.fr.
Each ICOLD Congress addresses four selected questions. For 2022, the approved Questions and sub-topics are listed below.
