Obruk Dam
Obruk Dam is an earth-fill dam built by the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) between 1996 and 2002 on the Kızılırmak River, for irrigation, drinking water and power generation. The dam body stands 127 metres high with a fill volume of 12 million m³; at normal water level the reservoir holds 661.11 hm³ over an area of 50.21 km². It irrigates 5,538 hectares of farmland and, with an installed capacity of 203 MW, generates roughly 473 GWh of electricity a year (per Wikipedia, citing DSİ figures).
Which District Is It In?
Sources do not fully agree on the dam’s administrative location. According to Wikipedia’s DSİ-sourced entry, the dam takes its name from M.D. Obruk village, which belongs to Dodurga district; the same article’s infobox, however, lists the dam under both Dodurga and Laçin districts. By contrast, the official “Natural Beauties and Recreation Areas” page of the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism describes the reservoir directly as “Obruk Dam, located in our district of Oğuzlar”; Oğuzlar Municipality’s own website likewise claims the lake as “Obruk Baraj Gölü,” describing it as running through a narrow valley 600-700 metres wide and 30 km long on the municipality’s northern edge. A local news source gives the dam’s distance as 45 km from the city of Çorum, 16 km from Dodurga’s district center, 13 km from Oğuzlar’s, and 23 km from Osmancık’s — meaning the dam sits close to none of the three district centers; its roughly 30-km-long shoreline likely touches several district boundaries, probably including Laçin. This research could not find any DSİ page of its own that explicitly assigns the dam to a single district. In short: the dam takes its name from a village in Dodurga, but official tourism sources sometimes credit it to Oğuzlar, while Wikipedia’s infobox lists Dodurga and Laçin — visitors should simply know that several districts border the lake.
Nature and Activities
Per Oğuzlar Municipality’s description, the reservoir basin sits in a transitional landscape where Central Anatolia meets the Black Sea region, in an unspoiled valley far from industry; its steep slopes host rich wildlife and endemic plant species. The official page of the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism urges visitors not to leave Çorum without birdwatching, taking a boat tour and watching the sunset at Obruk Dam. The wetlands along the lake’s northwestern and western shores, especially near the rice paddies on the Uğurludağ side, are also noted for birdwatching and photo safaris.
Farming and Current Debate
The dam’s water is an important irrigation source for the surrounding rice (çeltik) farming, but a local news report (Yayla Haber, February 2026) noted that the cold, saline water released from the dam has been blamed for falling rice yields, a topic that has reached the provincial council — a live debate closely tied to the region’s agriculture.
Visiting
Obruk Dam also lies on the “Obruk Baraj Gölü Çevresi-İskilip” cycling route of the Kızılırmak Basin Gastronomy and Walking Trail. For other natural areas in the region, see our Picnic and Recreation Areas in Çorum page.