Mass wasting such as rockfalls, avalanches or glacier icefalls can cause impulse waves in reservoirs. Particularly in the case of reservoirs in the periglacial environment, such events are likely to occur more frequently due to changing climatic conditions. For operational matters, it is therefore necessary to take the waves caused by smaller, more frequent slides into account for the dam freeboard dimensioning. The project comprises the investigation of impulse waves in hydraulic model tests and the derivation of suitable design equations.