In response to the drought of 1240 BC, the Hittites were forced to build reservoirs and dams. They built a total of 10 dams, including the Örükaya dam in the province of Çorum.
The Örükaya dam is 40 metres long, 16 metres high and 5 metres wide. It had a sluice with a wooden gate.

The dam in the village Örükaya was excavated by Korean students under the direction of the archaeological museum Çorum as the first of the originally Hittite dams.
To boost agricultural production, the now neglected Hittite dams were repaired by legionnaires in Roman times. The dams made it possible to use thousands of hectares for agricultural purposes.

The current state, only recently excavated, shows the dam wall repaired about 2000 years ago by Roman military engineers.