...What if the fish make it past the dam? Due to the rising of water temperatures caused by the dam, the fish will either die from heat stroke or develop whirling disease. What do a few fish matter anyway? Salmon are a food source for orcas, bears, and even humans. So without these precious fish humans will not only lose a delicious food, but also cause the population of many other species to be depleted. So it is critical for these fish to reach their native breeding grounds. How many will successfully complete this miraculous journey? Currently about 90% of fish die before making it past dams such as the Ice Harbor Dam in Washington (Nicole 2). In rivers such as the Snake River. That has caused a decrease in the number of fish from a whopping 400,000 in its "pre dam" era to 3,000 currently....
Words: 511 - Pages: 3
...2-4, 141-148 2009 Controversies around dam reservoirs: benefits, costs and future Ryszard Kornijów1, 2 of Life Sciences in Lublin, Department of Hydrobiology, B. Dobrzańskiego 37, 20-262 Lublin, Poland, e-mail: ryszard.kornijow@up.lublin.pl 2Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia, Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology, H. Kołłątaja 1, 81-332 Gdynia, Poland 1University Abstract The paper reviews the social and environmental problems concerning the functioning of dams including their local and global effects. Particularly emphasized is a trend toward removing dams in many countries. These are issues of significant importance, particularly in view of the current discussions on justification of investing in new dams, and seeking safe and economical solutions for aging dams, risky in their further operation. Key words: dam building and removal, local and global effects. „Dams are both a blessing and a curse” Dr. Ute Collier 1. Introduction The above citation accurately, although briefly, reflects general perception of dams. On the one hand, they have undoubtedly played, and still play a significant role in the development of the civilization. On the other hand, their construction and functioning entail incurring immense social costs, often disproportionate to the resulting advantages. Dams have also caused vast irreversible damage in the natural environment. Therefore, there is growing opposition against constructing dams, and even demands to remove the already...
Words: 6151 - Pages: 25
...Northwest region of the United States there is a large snaking river that covers a lot of groundin four different states. The river is named characteristically “Snake River”. In the middle of the 1990’s we saw a lot of controversial talk over the four large dams placed in different parts of the River. We continue to hear talks more than a decade later about the possible removal of these dams. The dams bring a lot of money to the Northwest region and support a lot of jobs among, farmers, barge operators, and people who work at the dam themselves. This is not to mention that it supports recipients of hydroelectric power in this region and the removal would leave them without energy; in this case without clean energy. However these dams have also affected many other people who live in this region but not for the better. Native Americans who ritually let the first Salmon pass up the river have been hurting for some time. They say their soul is weak and their main source of food is no longer plentiful like it used to be. The Native Americas went through some hard times when the government told them they couldn’t fish for these Salmon anymore because they were closed to being endangered. I’m hoping my thoughts can persuade you to remove the dams and let the wild salmon swim freely again. Imagine having a main source of food for the whole tribe and the government who has destroyed this one source is physically and lawfully removing members of the tribe from the river telling them they are...
Words: 1836 - Pages: 8
...Environmental Impacts of Dams By Tania M. Brown Instructor: Timothy Butcher Environmental Site Assessment 10/27/2008 Throughout the past few years, the negative impacts of dams have become so well known that most countries have stopped building them altogether and are now forced to invest their money into fixing the problems created by existing dams. The environmental impacts of dams have come under renewed examination in recent years. Dam advocates have historically understood that dams largely improve the status of water-related energy and environmental issues by, for example, producing hydroelectric power and increasing the water supply for irrigation. The construction of large dams completely change the relationship of water and land, destroying the existing ecosystem balance which, in many cases, has taken thousands of years to create. Currently there are around 40,000 large dams which obstruct the world's rivers, completely changing their circulation systems: this is not going to occur without dire environmental impacts. . Dam advocates have historically understood that dams largely improve the status of water-related energy and environmental issues by, for example, producing hydroelectric power and increasing the water supply for irrigation. The damming of a river creates a reservoir upstream from the dam. The reservoir waters spill out into the surrounding environments, flooding the natural habitats that existed before the dam’s construction...
Words: 1270 - Pages: 6
...Kirstie Hagmann Professor Holper English 1A 28 Sept. 2012 Water: The New Gold Rush Humboldt County, CA, is one of the last great frontiers on the West Coast. Framed by ancient redwoods, Humboldt boasts a wealth of rivers, forests, beaches and mountains. On the surface, it sounds like nature’s paradise. Dig a little deeper though, and you can still see the same elements of cruelty and greed that have characterized this area since the first settlers arrived, hoping to find gold, harvest lumber, or trap fish and game. In the present day, ruthless opportunists still lurk in the shadows of this rich and fertile land. Some are locals, seeking to line their pockets. Some are politicians, looking for support and voting advantages. All of the ruthless and lawless behavior that characterized the Gold Rush has now been dressed up in legal jargon, and underhanded maneuvers behind closed doors. Only this time, the greed for gold has become the greed for water, a natural resource of ever increasing value. The players may have changed, but the greed is just as ruthless as a gunfight in the Wild West. Take, for example, the Klamath River, one of six rivers in Humboldt County. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that “The Klamath River basin which covers 10.5 million acres in Southern Oregon and Northern California is home to six federally recognized tribes and several National Wildlife Refuges, Parks and Forests. The Klamath River has been the third largest producer...
Words: 1441 - Pages: 6
...Task 1 (LO 1: 1.1 and 1.2) A tunnel is an underground or underwater passageway, dug through the surrounding soil, earth, rock and enclosed except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods. A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. The central portions of a rapid transit network are usually in tunnel. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers. Utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings for convenient passage of people and equipment. There 4 kinds of tunnelling methods that is widely used. They are (1) Cut and Cover Tunnelling method (2) Drill and Blas Tunnelling method (3) Tunnel boring machine method (TBM) (4) Sequential Excavation Method Cut and Cover Tunnelling Method Cut and Cover Tunnelling Method Cut and Cover Tunnelling Method Cut and cover tunnelling is a common and well-proven technique for constructing shallow tunnels. The method can accommodate changes in tunnel width and non-uniform shapes and is often adopted in construction of underground stations. Several overlapping works are required to be carried out in using this tunnelling method. Trench excavation, tunnel construction and soil covering of excavated...
Words: 4540 - Pages: 19
...The Science of Disasters EAS 201 – Written Assignment 5 1. What is the difference between a flash flood and a regional flood? Are the causes the same? Are the effects the same? Flash Flood; are walls of water, set up in a matter of hours by a large convective storm. Many automobile related deaths in a flash flood are in 2 feet of water due to the buoyant lift and current of the water. In 1997, in Antelope Canyon a flash flood took 12 hikers, tumbling them down the canyon as helpless on lookers could only watch. A wall of water builds due to steep topography, channeling the water and striking a particular area in a thunderstorm. In Big Thompson Canyon, Colorado in 1976, a thunderstorm remained stationary in the canyon for four hours. The topography fed the flash floods and carried many hikers and tourist down the canyon to their death. Many survived by fleeing their cars and climbing to safety, seeking shelter along the canyon walls. Those who chose to stay with their cars were swept away in the flood and died. The weight and proximity of the vehicle couldn’t allow them to achieve the safety they required. Regional Flood; different from flash floods, regional floods inundate an area with rainfall over several weeks, causing fewer deaths and often more damage. Occurring in areas of large river valleys and low topography, these heavy rains often result due to cyclonic systems. Their can be many contributing factors as to why a particular river may flood; geological...
Words: 1725 - Pages: 7
...for disease proliferation, nutrient capture, algal bloom potential and the release of toxicants from inundated sediments. Some water quality problems relate to activities within the catchment beyond the direct control of the proponent but which can cause water quality problems when compounded with the power station operations. Flooding of biomass, especially forests, results in underwater decay. In deep lakes that tend to stratify, colder de-oxygenated water at depths in the lake have in some cases released metals from the sediments e.g. methylmercury. Deep intakes can in some cases result in deoxygenated and hydrogen sulphide rich releases out of the power station tailrace into the downstream river system. Particularly high hydropower dams have in cases had problems with gas supersaturation resulting in fish deaths. In shallow lakes, water quality problems can under certain catchment conditions result from wind-induced sediment re-suspension, eutrophication and algal blooms. Water temperatures in the discharged water...
Words: 1532 - Pages: 7
...quickly and with little warning. These flash floods can be extremely dangerous, instantly turning a babbling brook into a thundering wall of water and sweeping everything in its path downstream. There are many causes of flood. Typhoons may cause flooding to coastal areas. When there is a typhoon, the atmospheric pressure is low. Sea level rises and affects the volume of water flowing from the river to the sea. This indirectly leads to flooding. Flooding always occur in coastal areas. Because whenever there are high tides or storms, the sea level will raise. If the sea level is higher than the level of the coastal lowland, flooding will occur. Heavy rainfall raises the water level. When the water level is higher than the river banks or the dams, the water comes out from the river, there will have flooding. But even small amount of rainfalls in our country may cause flood. This graph says that ten percent of the fatalities during natural calamities are caused by flood. 788,572 are the number of people who are affected by this phenomenon. This tells that almost two million dollars cost of private and agricultural properties are damage and devastated Most flood destruction is attributable to humans' desire to live near picturesque coastlines and in river valleys. According to these statistics, flooding is a...
Words: 1157 - Pages: 5
...John Cauley Research Paper Dr.Babaie November 25th 2012 Dammed If We Do Dammed If We Don’t In our everyday lives we rarely think of how we get our drinking water or where it even comes from. If we were to do a little research we would most likely come to the conclusion that it came from, or was in some part due to the use of a dam. Dams are part of everyday life and impact us in more ways than we can even express. First there are the general purposes we all think about: recreation (boating, swimming, etc.), drinking or water for irrigation, and possibly energy production better known as hydroelectric power generation. Yet there are many more active, passive, and even religious ways that dams effect the many cultures, whether effluent or poor; around the globe (Abraham). * Going back to ancient Rome there is mention of retaining and trapping water for public and civil uses. They created the first aqueducts not to far off from the systems many countries still use today to deliver their water for drinking and other public uses, such as filling fountains and using for mill power. It was said that no matter how much of a drought or shortage of water in Rome, the fountains were the last thing to be shut down (public drinking water, even water for the senate was shut off) were the public fountains, to show Rome’s great power and prestige in case of invasion, and for public image also. * Today we live in a much more complicated world. A world filled with...
Words: 1684 - Pages: 7
...needs. They also started making water wheels out of cast iron. People were always looking for ways to make it more efficient and some inventions were very successful like the cast-iron gearing which brought all wood construction to an end. Since they were always looking for more efficient ways this also brought to people inventing turbines and even windmills. Even now a days small companies use water wheels instead of turbines because they are more affordable and the payback is greater. They are also very affordable to maintain. If it wasn’t for this early machine that started it all maybe we wouldn’t have evolved so fast in this technology. Maybe they would have been grinding grains by hand for a couple hundred years more. Hydro-electric dams are descendants from water wheels, as they also take advantage of the movement of water downhill. This is why I think that the water wheel helped to shape modern society. References http://www.top-alternative-energy-sources.com/water-wheel-history.html http://www.top-alternative-energy-sources.com/water-wheel-history.html...
Words: 304 - Pages: 2
...on a long term basis like dams to be constructed on the rivers in the Northern Gujarat. The project would bring about many positive changes like increased in irrigation and productivity but one issue persisted. This issue was of great importance as it was concerned with the famous Bhavnath temple falling in the middle of the reservoir. After a lot of discussion and negotiation, assurance was given to safeguard the interests of the people. The government later proposed an increase in the dimension of dam because of higher promised returns, but this would lead to submerging the temple. This caused resistance and hence the negotiations failed. Situation Analysis In 1947 after independence the government directed all their plans towards all – round economic development of the country. The country was economically very weak at the time of independence. The Bombay province understood the importance of agriculture and thus decided to build earthen dams across the rivers of Lokmata and Sadmata to increase the economic conditions of the country. In order to go ahead with the project the government had to rehabilitate the people getting affected and also the temple would be lost and so the only solution was to relocate the temple and its deities. This was opposed by the natives and locals even after negotiations about relocating and preserving the temple. The dam was to be built in the order to provide irrigation to the agricultural fields. The series of dam to be built in Northern Gujarat...
Words: 1247 - Pages: 5
...FORTIS INC. AND CHLILLO DAM Introduction Fortis is the organization aimed at delivering the earnings towards their shareholders whereas continuing the quality services to the customers at a reasonable prices. They had the strategy of positive growth and disciplined strategy of acquisition for shareholder’s wealth increase. PEST Analysis PEST analysis is the political, economic, social and technologuical system that must be analysed in this study. This study is based upon the project of Fortis that was based upon the electricity and power generation through dam construction in the Belize country. Following points are summarizing the key issues and current situations at the time of dam construction in Fortis and Belize. Political Analysis Belize is the country that has democratic state and sovereign status of the country with a government working on the parliamentary principles. Parliament principles are based upon the west minister parliamentary system. Country has the membership in the British commonwealth of nations after its independence. Belize electricity limited has the operations in strong relation to the economy and government (Ansar, Flyvbjerg, Budzier, & Lunn, 2014). They have more than 53,000 customer’s serves and able to meet up the highest demands of the country including 44 megawatts from the diesel fired generation, Mollejon hydro plant and energy purchase from commission de electricidad. BEL has enhanced the corporate image in the various modes. Electricity...
Words: 962 - Pages: 4
...the channel by eroding the stream banks. B) What happens if a stream has too much sediment load? It causes sediment deposition on stream bottom creating a braided stream. 3. A) What expected flood size does FEMA use to establish its regulatory requirements? FEMA uses the 100 year flood for building regulations. B) In any given year, what is the probability that a 100 year flood will occur? There is a 1% chance each year that this level of flood could occur. Maps are available with 100 year flood outlines. 50 year flood = 2% chance. 4. What are 6 ways that killer floods can occur? 1) Precipitation is above normal in drainage basin, 2) sudden snow/ice melts, 3) landslides, 4) modifications, fire and urbanization = more runoff 5) Dam failure, 6) geography of stream basin/area. 5. A) Are the canyons of Utah susceptible to flash floods? Why or why not? Yes because steep topography helps thunderstorms build and then provide the rugged valleys that channelize the killer floods. Utah canyons are very steep so it is very possible. B) How deep does water have to be to possibly be fatal to people who try to drive through flood waters? 2 ft deep. 6. A) How do regional floods differ from flash floods? They differ because regional floods occur in large river valleys with low topography whereas flash floods happen in tall steep places. B) Why was the Mississippi River flood of 1993 so big? Because...
Words: 828 - Pages: 4
...They have the two characteristics of public goods. Non-excludability. Once you provide flood defences for a city, everyone in that city will benefit and be protected. (People will be protected whether or not they have have contributed towards the cost). Non-rivalry. If you enjoy a city defended from rising flood waters, it doesn’t reduce the amount of flood defences for other people. (It’s not like eating emergency rations, which do reduce the amount available for other people.) Failure of the free market Difficulty in provision. There is little, if any, incentive for a firm to provide flood defences through charging local residents. There is a big free rider problem. People on flood plains may have a vested interest in better flood defences, but there is temptation to avoid paying and hoping someone else will pay. Another difficulty is that flooding has no predictability. Building roads (a quasi public good) gives a predictable return. Spending money on police and justice also give a predictable return. But, you could spend millions on flood defences and not need it for 30 years. Another difficulty is that flood defences can be quite difficult to build. Dredging rivers done annually is expensive, though at least manegable. But, other flood defences may be more difficult, such as building relief canals to take excess water. This may need government help to purchase the necessary land. Occasions where public good can be provided by the free market Despite the limitations...
Words: 400 - Pages: 2
