Factors Affecting Natural Flow Regime

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

Since the settlement of the American West, rivers have experienced changes in the natural flows and movements. Among these processes flooding has become controlled as dams have been built. Esselman et al. (2011) tracked numerous categories of anthropocentric activities through geographical informational systems. The team found that upstream fish habitats were exponentially impacted by human activities downstream. In addition to the upstream movement of impacts human impacts also travel downstream. Different human impacts on the Yellowstone River versus the Platte River have greatly affected the river ecosystems.

First, the use of hydro energy resource, which is still debatable if it’s renewable or nonrenewable, cannot always be suitable for flat or dry regions and in areas where natural disasters occur. So counties with natural disasters or regions that are not suited is most likely not going to have a hydropower, as mentioned in (Marmulla, 2001, p. 55), dams are unnatural effecting species like fish causing migrations because of habitat loss. This can lead to extinction of species, affecting many ecosystems, since the fish starts to migrate to different areas changing the population balance. For example, Nicola, Elvira,

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

Imagine about 100 years into the future, do you see a flourishing earth with sustained life and beautiful scenery or do you imagine a deserted waste land run dry of all natural resources? Which would you rather have? The book Saints at the River written by novelist Ron Rash explores how the single act of a small girl’s drowning can lead to a moral and ethical conundrum about whether alterations should be made to the river to retrieve her body and how this is essential to the families need to grieve over the loss of their child or how the additions of things like a temporary Dam causes more damage than its worth as expressed by those who advocate for the protection of this natural free-flowing river. The protection of natural rivers, like the

The Grand Coulee Dam, located in Eastern Washington, was one of controversy, risk, and a point of no return. While the water captured made the desert area blossom in agriculture and it powered some large cities, it created a sense of accomplishment, that humans can control Mother Nature. While many people were very excited for this new construction – which gives power and resources - at the time, some thought it should not be allowed, they are not proud of containing the Columbia River. In this analysis, I am going to focus on the economic and social effects that the Grand Coulee Dam created in its build.

In the ¨River Restoration Project Offers a Sprinkling of Hope¨, Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Authority, said “We hope to get double duty out of that water by taking it the long way around.¨ As Jacobsma is a general manager of the Friant water Authority, this offers us his experience, his ideas and his thoughts of how we can have hope for the project. President Barack Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Bill in March, the agreement turned into federal law when he signed it. The parties had been working on the restoration plan for more than two years laying the groundwork for the physical changes to come. When the president signed it, it made them get the approval which he supported for them to continue the process. The credibility of the author right has now been believable because he provided us with the ethics of President Obama and Jacobsma. The river will not necessarily end up to its full, natural path along its entire length. Too much has changed in the decades since the dams construction. They would use canals along some stretches to carry the water short distances and to ferry the salmon upstream. This is showing us logos with facts and information it offers an explanation on how to solve one of the problems with the plan. A professor named Peter Moyole, from UC Davis also had his opinion on the project. He said “We have never done anything on this scale”, but we were willing to try it and approve of the

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

The Three Gorges Dam is an unfinished project which will be the largest dam ever constructed on the planet Earth. It is situated in China on the third largest river in the world – the Yangtze. The dam has been debated over since the 1919 and is still a hot topic of debate because of its many pros and cons. In 1994 construction began on the dam, and it is expected to be finished by the year 2009. The massive dimensions of the dam are mind boggling and its functions – if the dam actually works – are truly remarkable; however, with such a large structure also comes difficulties, sacrifices, and cynics. The goal of this essay is to lend an understanding of the dam itself, the prospective benefits of

The change in season’s results in differences in the flow, size and overall function of the lake, stream, or river and therefore the constant monitoring of these systems are beneficial to determine ecosystem characteristics and patterns (Lenat, 1988).

Dam projects can serve many purposes. They compensate for varying amounts of water that nature may send down a river at a given time, or they may serve as a resource to generate hydropower for the local population. The construction of these complicated feats of engineering is an expensive, time consuming task. For whatever reason a dam is built, it will almost always pay for itself in the energy it produces or

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.

Many countries are also highly dependent on water that originates outside their borders; the water diversion provided by dams for countries that are downstream exacerbates an already serious problem. The diversion of river systems is an area of international concern, the nature and extent of such interdependency is already extensive: 145 countries share over 261 international river basin. As demand increases, and as indigenous sources of water become fully utilized or exhausted, the only alternatives are likely to be international (Dolatyar, 2006). Ironically, the very solution of one country's scarcity, plunges another into water shortage, this is the reason why water security is one of the most crucial foreign policy considerations of a globally connected economic and political atmosphere.

INTRODUCTION: Water assets building is growing massively today. Dams have the most vital part in using water assets. They were developed taxing year before increasing present data about hydrology and hydro mechanics. All through the historical backdrop of the world, dams have been utilized effectively as a part of gathering, putting away and overseeing water expected to manage human advancement. Dams have a lot of positive and negative impacts on the earth. Their advantages like controlling stream administration, subsequently forestalling surges, getting local and water system water from put away water and creating vitality from hydro control. While dam give noteworthy advantage to our general public, their effect on the encompassing incorporates resettlement and migration, financial effect, natural concerns, sedimentation issue, security angles and so on. Notwithstanding their vital social and natural advantages, it is vital to minimize the negative impacts of the hoover dam on the earth with respect to feasible advancement.

All of these projects are designed to have low environ- mental impacts and be sustainable and easy to maintain. Since they are mini-hydro projects, large head heights (and thus large dams) are not required [9]. Most of these 6 turbine projects favor weirs over dams which cause much less damage to both the river and the surround- ing wildlife and fish population. An example of one of these small, low impact dams can be seen in FIG. 1. The design of these system also includes many failsafes to help aid in environmental protection. Like many small hydro plants, CRELUZ’s projects include fish passes and flood controls [6].