The neglected, deteriorating and dangerous US dam infrastructure

San Clemente Dam, Carmel River, California. Photograph courtesy of: © 2007 Gary Griggs

Excerpts;

More than 15,000 dams in the US would likely kill people if they failed, and at least 2,300 of them are in poor or unsatisfactory condition, according to recent data from the federal government’s National Inventory of Dams…

Also of Interest:

In an era of extreme weather, concerns grow over dam safety, Yale E360 (07-09-2019)
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…

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…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…

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

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…

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

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

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Latest Posts + Popular Topics