Šance Dam is a water reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 and dam in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids

Moravian-Silesian Beskids

The Moravian-Silesian Beskids is a mountain range in the Czech Republic with a small part reaching to Slovakia. It lies on the historical division between Moravia and Silesia, hence the name...

 mountain range, Moravian-Silesian Region

Moravian-Silesian Region

Moravian-Silesian Region , or Moravo-Silesian Region, is one of 14 administrative Regions of the Czech Republic, until May 2001 it was formerly called the Ostrava Region . The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most of the Czech part of the...

, Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. The dam is built on upper course of the Ostravice River

Ostravice River

Ostravice is a river in Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It originates in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids and then flows through Ostravice, Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Frýdek-Místek and Paskov to Ostrava where it enters the Oder as its right tributary...

 and has a surface of 3.37 km². It was constructed in 1964-1969 and began operating in 1974. Part of the village of Staré Hamry

Staré Hamry

Staré Hamry is a village in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It has a population of 557 . It is situated in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain range, on the Ostravice River and the Šance Dam, forest covers 86% of village's area...

 was demolished and subsequently flooded during the construction. The name of the dam comes from the hill that overlooks the dam.

The dam is used mainly to supply drinking water

Drinking water

Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...

 to nearby towns and villages and to subdue floods on the Ostravice River

Ostravice River

Ostravice is a river in Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It originates in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids and then flows through Ostravice, Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Frýdek-Místek and Paskov to Ostrava where it enters the Oder as its right tributary...

.