Caption: 
Pumped storage hydropower uses dual-reservoir “storage” systems to improve the availability of energy by pumping and releasing water between the reservoirs to generate electricity to meet peak demands. To accelerate pumped storage hydropower implementation, SwRI is developing different strategies for efficiently building the reservoirs, illustrated here with an upper reservoir sited atop a mesa and a lower reservoir created by damming canyons below. 

Credit: 
Courtesy of 2019 Google Map data