Purpose: to study the influence of the water head in the upstream and the backwater on the part of the downstream on the seasonal storage dam, built in a mountainous area. Materials and methods: complex geological conditions of anchoring a responsible in terms of safety structure in a mountainous area prompted us to a more detailed study of the issue of its stress-strain state with the ability to offer designers in detail the limits of possible changes in the parameters of the displacement of the seasonal storage dam foundation. The need for the dam construction in the mountainous area is due to several factors. First of all, it is a fundamental need to accumulate water on the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus, where there is an ever-increasing deficit both for the needs of agricultural producers and for public water supply, while in the autumn-winter period, precipitation falls in the region even in abundance, as it is evidenced by flood control costs. Secondly, the mountainous relief and their gorges is the nature-created volume for water accumulation. Thirdly, the lands of mountain gorges are the most unsuitable for agricultural use lands, in contrast to the lands of the valleys, where reservoirs are currently located. Results: the study of the influence of the water head in the upstream and the backwater from the downstream on the dam was carried out using numerical modeling using the Midas and Maxima software products, which made it possible to cover the entire range of actions necessary for solving such problems. Conclusions: it was found that in the range of backwater changes in the headwater of the dam from 0.6 to 2.8 m, displacements at the dam foundation have extreme values at constant values of the head at the dam of 1.0; 5.0 and 10.0 m. In general, the largest displacement values at the dam foundation are observed at the highest head of the dam in the upstream, equal to 10.0 m.