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It IS unfashionable, dams are actively being removed across the US in order to restore the ecosystems they shattered. Migratory fish and all predators higher up
by muaytimbo 4y ago
It IS unfashionable, dams are actively being removed across the US in order to restore the ecosystems they shattered. Migratory fish and all predators higher up the trophic chain are devastated by any type of dam.
- jhoechtl 4y agoThere are fish ladders, at least we have them in Europe along river dams. When I think about the giant five valley hydroplant in China, the giant Euphrat hydroplant or the giant Nile hydroplant of Aegypt, I think its more the abscence of political force which could move ten thousands of people out of the way.
- muaytimbo 4y agoFish ladders are completely ineffective [1]. [1] https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12000 https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl....
- seanmcdirmid 4y agoMostly smaller dams that were built a long time ago. They would need to be replaced anyways, so just tearing them down and not replacing them is economical and ecological. But the big ones built in the last 100 years are going to stick around for awhile.
- pencilguin 4y agoNot because they are less damaging, but because Big Ag has enough influence to keep them in place.
- kixiQu 4y agoI'm wondering if we should even accept the framing of that as "fashion" and not "large-scale action spurred by a rational shared reevaluation of impact"
- muaytimbo 4y agoTotally agree, the hydroelectric juice wasn't worth the squeeze on our ecosystem.