Book excerpt: Hydraulic engineering of dams and their appurtenant structures counts among the essential tasks to successfully design safe water-retaining reservoirs for hydroelectric power generation, flood retention, and irrigation and water supply demands. In view of climate change, especially dams and reservoirs, among other water infrastructure, will and have to play an even more important role than in the past as part of necessary mitigation and adaptation measures to satisfy vital needs in water supply, renewable energy and food worldwide as expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. This book deals with the major hydraulic aspects of dam engineering considering recent developments in research and construction, namely overflow, conveyance and dissipations structures of spillways, river diversion facilities during construction, bottom and low-level outlets as well as intake structures. Furthermore, the book covers reservoir sedimentation, impulse waves and dambreak waves, which are relevant topics in view of sustainable and safe operation of reservoirs. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, highlighting the various appurtenant structures of dams addressed in the book chapters, as well as figures and diagrams showing important relations among the governing parameters of a certain phenomenon. An extensive literature review along with an updated bibliography complete this book.