In an era of extreme weather, concerns grow over dam safety

elwha-dam

elwha-dam
Elwha Dam removal, 2011. The largest dam-removal project in U.S. history. Photograph: © SAF – Coastal Care.

Excerpts;

Many of the United States’ 91,000 dams are aging and sorely in need of repairs that could collectively cost tens of billions of dollars. Experts are increasingly worried that as extreme precipitation events increase, dams are at greater risk of failure, threatening lives and posing environmental risks…

Read Full Article; Yale E360 (07-09-2019)

Unintended consequences of dams and reservoirs; Science Daily (11-13-2018)
An international team of drought scientists show that while many dams and reservoirs are built, or expanded, to alleviate droughts and water shortages, they can paradoxically contribute to making them worse…

Hydropower, innovations and avoiding international dam shame; Science Daily (11-05-2018)
The benefits of energy from dams no longer outweigh the social and environmental costs that damming up rivers brings about…

The Wrong Climate for Damming Rivers, A Video from Todd Southgate (05-26-2016)
Though large hydropower projects are often presented as a “clean and green” source of energy, nothing could be further from the truth…

Mega Dams Remain Controversial Source of Energy; IPS News (06-09-2016)

Undamming Rivers: A Chance For New Clean Energy Source; Yale E360 (08-07-2015)
Hydroelectric power is often touted as clean energy, but this claim is true only in the narrow sense of not causing air pollution. In many places, such as the U.S. East Coast, hydroelectric dams have damaged the ecological integrity of nearly every major river…

1000 Dams Down and Counting: Dam Removal Study Reveals River Resiliency; USGS (05-02-2015)

DamNation; a Documentary That’s Testing the Waters of Corporate Social Responsibility; Produced by Stoecker Ecological and Felt Soul Media” and presented by Patagonia.

Elwha, The Grand Experiment (11-12-2012)

On The Elwha, A New Life When The Dam Breaks
Nobody figured the largest dam removal project ever attempted in the U.S. was going to be easy, or fast.The nation’s largest and most ambitious dam removal will begin this month, when workers start demolishing two antique dams on Washington state’s Elwha River…

Dam projects on world’s largest rivers threaten ecosystems, rural livelihoods; Science Daily (01-08-2016)

12 Dams that Changed the World, Guardian UK (01-13-2015)

Large Dams Just Aren’t Worth the Cost, The New York Times (10-25-2014)

Small Dams On Chinese River Harm Environment More Than Expected, study finds, NSF (05-30-2013)

Dams – Cutting off our Beach Sand; By Gary Griggs (12-19-2014)

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