Multipurpose project for flood control in lowlands in northwest Honduras

The El Tablón multipurpose project is a future dam project upstream of the Sula Valley, in northwest Honduras, designed to prevent and mitigate devastating floods that frequently occur in the region. The project has been studied for more than 40 years, but the final design was developed between 2024 and 2025. The scheme aims to create a reservoir capable of containing and controlling floodwaters of the Chamelecon river, mitigating the impact on downstream communities, with potable water supply, irrigation, and hydropower generation as secondary objectives. This paper outlines the analysis of alternatives for the project, the selected composite dam layout, and the main hydrological and hydraulic studies which were carried out, including for extreme events and climate change scenarios.