I believe that the Hetch Hetchy Dam should remain in place because national resources and utilization of these resources can co-exist but we first must affirm the federal land act in which it states that it "recognizes the value of our Nation’s public lands and provided a framework in which they could be managed in perpetuity for the benefit of present and future generations." To maintain the Hetchy Hetch river valley for the present they should not disturb the ecosphere that is now in place. To do away with the dam there will be damage to the surrounding areas and be pro active in controlling any erosion and stabilization of the valley if it was drained. The vegetation and the original beauty will take many years to be reintroduced
3.5 million miles of water run throughout the United States; and since the country’s conception, over 80,000 dams have impounded 600,000 miles of these waters [1]. Dams were originally constructed to provide water to towns and establishes energy sources for mills and later hydroelectric plants. Because these dams were constructed decades ago, they’re reaching a critical point of obsoleteness where they cause more harm than good. Dam removal is increasingly popular across the country to address the ecological problems including habitat loss and sedimentation, despite potential for downstream harm, removing dams is more environmentally and economically cost effective than upgrading them. The Marmot, Glines Canyon, and Elwha river dam removal projects each highlight different challenges of dam removal, but overall
The Grand Coulee Dam(G.C.D) changed Kettle Falls forever. Kettle Falls was a peaceful river where Native Americans fished every year. It is said that around 3,000 fish were fished every year. Then in 1933, everything changed when the Grand Coulee Dam started construction and finished on June 1, 1942, that is almost a decade. I feel like it is good that we built the Grand Coulee Dam. The Dam has great effects that have benefitted Washington. Two of them are the jobs people got in the Great Depression and Irrigation we got.
The article “Down go the dams” by Jane C.Marks aim to provide an informative view on the current pending issue on Dams. The article starts out my mentioning the important nature of dams in our society. For example, Jane C.Marks states that today about 800,000 dams operate worldwide as well as the fact that most were built in the past century, primarily after World War II. Furthermore, the author lays down informative facts about dams such as the fact that dams control flooding and their reservoirs provide a reliable supply of water for irrigation, drinking and recreation which are all very important to society. In an economic standpoint, although it is very high maintenance dams provide jobs for people. The
On May 19 and 20, 1990, terribly significant rains fell within the river Basin, particularly over the lower finish of Lake Hamilton and far of Lake Catherine. within the twelve-hour amount from 6:00 p.m. May 19, 1990 to 6:00 a.m. May 20, 1990, there was downfall of 10 inches at Carpenter Dam, seven inches at Remmel Dam, and twelve inches in near Hot Springs, with most of the rain falling between 8:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. The pool elevation on Lake Hamilton was 399.16 feet higher than water level at 8:00 p.m. on May 19, however when four hours, had up to 402.12 feet, and was still rising. Throughout this point the gates on Carpenter Dam were opened so as to avoid flooding on Lake Hamilton. The mixture of the discharge from Lake Hamilton and therefore the influx of rain from Lake Catherine's catchment area flooded the shores of Lake Catherine. The tail water from Carpenter Dam rose from a traditional elevation of 305 feet, to an elevation of 331 feet by 4:00 a.m. on May 20. Before the flooding, the pool elevation at Remmel Dam was close to traditional at 304.33 feet, however the pool at Remmel Dam crested at 7:00 a.m. on May 20th at 4:00am at an elevation of 317.50
Beside these arguments, there is also a more quantitative side to the debate. The ecological detriments of the Glen Canyon Dam have been well-documented. Extensive changes were brought about in the Colorado River ecosystem by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. Most of these alterations negatively affected the functioning of the system and the native aquatic species of the river. The reduced supply and transport of
Even then, the proposal was rejected for a few years. At the time, San Francisco received water support from Lake Eleanor, but both the lake and the valley was demanded. There was much criticism to set up this dam by many conservatives and Muir himself. The proposal finally passed in 1913 even after much opposition from all over the country. This Hetch-Hetchy project began and the O’Shaughnessy Dam was built. The construction of this dam cost $100 million and 68 lives. This dam streamed water over 160 miles to reach the Bay Area. This project was further improved in 1928 when San Francisco voters approved of the $24 million payment, which was completed in 1934. San Francisco voters decided to give the Hetch-Hetchy project another improvement in 1947; $25 million was invested for a second pipeline from the reservoir. In 1961, over $100 million in bonds was used to develop and expand the project. In 1970, the Sierra Club wanted the restoration of the valley and the removing of reservoirs from both Eleanor Dam and O’Shaughnessy Dam. This idea and proposal was rejected in 1988 with the reason that it would cost too much funding to return Hetch-Hetchy to its original form and would bring about the water problem in the Bay Area. The movement to recover the valley was firm as Restore Hetch-Hetchy, a non-profit organization with Sierra Club members and other environmental organizations, was pushing studies to find an alternative and ways to
Dams are harming salmon in so many ways. They’re taking away their habitat. The salmon’s access of the rivers are suddenly gone. In the Northwest, a large portion of dollars are spent in a year to fix all the damage to the salmon, caused by the dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers. For decades, there have been numerous debates about taking down these dams to help the fish, because they’re part of the endangered species act. There are biologists that notice how some salmon are trying to survive in rivers located in the Northwest that have been changed by dams. These fish are simply delaying migration back to the sea, growing larger in order to survive their trip back to the Pacific Ocean, and going back to their birth streams at higher rates than ever. All these salmon could be saving themselves instead of people spending billions of dollars. The consequences of this could be very important. The recovery of salmon
In 1992, The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act of 1992 authorized the US Federal Government to acquire the hydroelectric power projects of Elwha Dam and Glines Canyon Dam, where are located on the Washington State for demolition for habitat restoration and decommissioning. The dam removals began in 2011 and finished in 2014. I wondering that why government decided to remove the dam and what happens in Elwha River after dam removal. In this paper, I write about the following topics: main purpose of the Elwha and Gliens Canyon dam, effects to the Elwha River as well as ecosystem after constructing dam, reasons of the dam removal, process of the dam removal, and effects after dam removal.
Everyone in the group sided with the conservationist when it came to Hetch-Hetchy, citing reason both for and against each movement. It was apparent that the conservationist idea of damning Hetch-Hetchy to provide water for the city of San Francisco was the most practical use of the resource. With the earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906 there was a real need water, and engineers concluded that Hetch-Hetchy was the only practical solution to San Francisco’s water problem (Nash 2014). In comparison, the preservationist idea of keeping Hetch-Hetchy as a “public playground” and keeping it for man’s viewing pleasure wouldn’t offer the most utility for man, and seems almost selfish when considering the nature of the situation in San Francisco.
The Hetch Hetchy valley is the subject of one of the greatest and longest debates between conservationists and preservationists. In short, preservationists look to safe the great Hetch Hetchy valley from being dammed and flooded, and by doing that they prevent San Francisco people from getting what is rightfully theirs, the clean water and natural resources of the Hatch Hatchy valley and the Tuolumne River. Conservationists are on the other hand, they try to use the most of the Hetch Hetchy valley. Conservationists strongly support the Raker bill that allows the government of San Francisco to build the dam and provide the clean water to the city and county of San Francisco. Building the dam and flooding the Hetch Hetchy valley will destroy a part of the beautiful scenery replacing it with a lake, but it also tremendously increases the practical use of the Hetch Hetchy resources: it will provide electric power and the so much need water to the San Francisco district and will still provide the surrounding irrigating districts with the normal amount of water, it is the best project to solve San Francisco water problems considering the price and efficiency of the dam, and in addition it will also improve the popularity of the Hetch Hetchy and make it more accessible to the middle class people across the state.
Hetch Hetchy is about a reservoir that San Francisco wanted to build for Hydro electric and water supply. However, it was going to destroy the natural features of that area and also conflicted with conservation act. This act is to help preserve wild animals and forests for future generations to enjoy. People wanted to take utilitarian position in which they would use the land for the benefit of the town. That this issue is broken up into two parts because on one side has people that want to preserve and maintain this beautiful area as it is for future generations the other side is for the resource of water and electricity could produce. This article mentions the cost of the dam is 300,000 but the benefits would be in the millions. Once the
The tribal members are against the dam because it ruins their life style. The Native Americans use the Columbia River as a source of food and a way of life. Moreover, the damming of the Columbia River forced the Native Americans to resettle. The dam is an issue to them because they fish for salmon, an anadromous fish and once they're through the dam, there is no way for them to come back up it to spawn; this leads to the disappointed commercial fishermen. The environmentalists are upset because the construction of the dam means there would be habitat loss and alteration of a variety of wildlife, including plants. The taxpayers in the Northwest Region of the United States are the ones who paid for the majority of the irrigation construction costs (“Columbia Basin Project” 2015). Currently, there are no efforts for removing the
With human development, industrial pollution and other factors all contribute to the deteriorated condition of the river, which makes it difficult to determine the dams’ environmental impact in isolation. CITE That said, the current operations of the dam hamper and potentially prevent environmental improvement of the Colorado. In order to preserve some semblance of the Colorado ecosystem, man must restore the natural processes that created the ecosystem. The real question is how to do that, whether via dam decommission or a less extreme policy change.
“The Three Gorges Dam will be the largest hydropower station and dam in the world, with a 1.2 mile stretch of concrete and a 370 mile-long reservoir and 525 feet deep.”[4] To put that into understandable dimensions it will be the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, and twice as tall. “The reservoir created by the backflow of the dam will extend 360 miles up river to Chongqing, a distance equal to nearly half the length of California.”[5] So what is the point of this monstrosity? The major prospective benefits will be power generation, flood control, and increased navigability of the Yangtze River. Many people debate whether these attributes will actually be as beneficial as builders expect. The drawbacks of the dam are its flood plain and the effects of the flood plain, environmental damage, resettlement, historical and cultural loss, and the ideas of speculators about whether or not some of the dam’s abilities are true.
The Three Gorges Dam has many costs and benefits which can make it arduous to oppose or support it (Stone, "Three Gorges Dam: Into the Unknown", 2008). Weighing the pros and cons and finding a marginal offset can determine which side to opt for. The ecological, economic, and social impacts are some of the most consequential factors which means they should be viewed meticulously. When looking at the costs and benefits it can be concluded that the costs outweigh the benefits. Supporting the dam has too many costs and that is why it must be opposed.