Beautiful star-shaped spillway, Kechut Reservoir, Jermuk, Armenia A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. Spillways release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage or even destroy the dam. Except during flood periods, water does not normally flow over a spillway. Photograph by unbdaveable on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/unbdaveable/6156678754/in/photostream