Tag archives for dams
Posted by 
Last week, scientists published a study in the journal PNAS that warned that deforestation in the Amazon could significantly decrease the power output of hydroelectric dams, which are a major source of energy in the region. The study noted that although removal of trees tends to increase the amount of water that runs off the land, and…
Posted by Kurdish and Arabic nomads, a dwindling population in Iraqi Kurdistan, may be forced to move to cities if river levels in the region continue to decline. NG Young Explorer Julia Harte and team member Anna Ozbek report on the situation through text, photos, and video.
Near the point where Turkey, Iraq, and Syria meet, two villages face each other across the Tigris River. On one side lies the Iraqi Kurdish village of Faysh Khabur, home to a Chaldean Christian community for more than fourteen centuries. On the other bank sits Khanik Village, another ancient Chaldean community — but one that lies in Syria.
As temperatures in Southern Iraq approached 52 degrees Celsius (126°F) last July, Habib Salman, a 52-year-old farmer in the Al-Islah township, shot himself in the head, leaving behind an eleven-member family. The stream on which their farm relied had recently dried up, jeopardizing his family’s survival.
NG Young Explorer Julia Harte documents the culture of the Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq through text and photos, as well as a video shot and edited by team member Anna Ozbek.
NG Young Explorer Julia Harte begins her expedition northward along the Tigris River, where she will examine the impacts of Turkey’s Ilısu Dam, with initial glimpses at water issues in Southern Iraq and an introduction to the heated controversy surround the dam.
Posted by 
The Great Lakes are the largest supply of freshwater in the world, and more than 36 million people depend on them for drinking water. As a result, monitoring and maintaining the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem is an urgent priority. Of the diverse organisms inhabiting freshwater systems, fishes are familiar to scientists and laypeople…
Posted by 
From Amethyst Brook in Massachusetts to Wychus Creek in Oregon, communities in 19 states restored 400 miles of rivers and streams by removing 65 dams in 2012. American Rivers announced the annual dam removal list today, bring the total for U.S. dam removals up to nearly 1,100. Last year, outdated or unsafe dams came out…
Posted by 
On November 7, 2012, the government of Lao PDR held an official groundbreaking ceremony for the Xayaburi dam, the first mainstream dam on the Lower Mekong River. The Xayaburi dam, the first of eleven dams planned for the mainstream of the lower Mekong River, will likely reduce ecosystem service values and undercut livelihoods of people…
Damming the Mekong River
Posted by Michael Fry on November 6, 2012 Laos has announced plans to proceed immediately with the construction of an 820-meter-long hydroelectric dam across the Mekong River. Critics of the project say the Xayaburi dam, to be located in northern Laos, would be an ecological disaster for the Mekong and millions of people in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, who rely on…
Posted by 
Twenty years ago, a single sockeye salmon traveled 900 miles up the Columbia and Snake Rivers. It was an epic journey; travelling against the current the fish climbed more than 6,500 feet in elevation and up the “fish ladders” of eight dams. Bears, eagles, bobcats and other predators tried to grab this fish along the…
Forces that have been bridling against environmental regulations and science-based activism may use the India’s Great Power Outage as a cudgel to demolish future restraints on dam construction, coal mining, and other projects.
Dam Removal Begins on Maine’s Penobscot River to Revive Historic Salmon Runs
Posted by Brian Richter of The Nature Conservancy and University of Virginia in Water Currents on June 12, 2012 
The dams will fall and the salmon will rise. That may sound like prophesy, but it’s as certain as scientific predictions get these days, particularly in matters of ecological restoration. Yesterday, demolition of the Great Works Dam began on the Penobscot River in Maine. Another dam, the Veazie, will come down next summer. With the…
Damming the Poor: It’s Time to Create River Parks for People
Posted by Brian Richter of The Nature Conservancy and University of Virginia in Water Currents on April 19, 2012 
Chief Omar Abdalla Hama was pleading with us to help save his people from starving. My colleagues from The Nature Conservancy and I were visiting Ozi Village along the Tana River in southeastern Kenya. We were exploring opportunities to work with local communities, government officials, and other researchers on a sustainable development plan for the…
No Backing Down: Scientist’s Ganges River Fast Reaches Day 43
Posted by Dan Morrison of National Geographic News Correspondent in Water Currents on March 22, 2012 
Negotiations in New Delhi to end the 43-day hunger strike of a noted environmental scientist have stalled on the basic issue of trust: According to G.D. Agrawal’s supporters, the government of India has agreed to suspend work on four hydroelectric projects on the upper reaches of the Ganges River, but refuses to commit its pledge to writing.
Posted by 
After a sharp drop in the 1990s, due to concerns over environmental and social impact, dam construction is once again on the rise — especially in developing nations, where the demand for water and electricity is growing. A new study released at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille on March 14th discusses the…
Dying for the Ganges: A Scientist Turned Swami Risks All
Posted by Dan Morrison of National Geographic News Correspondent in Water Currents on March 16, 2012 
“At the moment I am quite resigned to my fate,” GD Agrawal, the 80-year-old dean of India’s environmental engineers, says from his hospital bed in the holy city of Varanasi. Agrawal hasn’t eaten since February 8. He hasn’t taken a drink of water since March 8; an intravenous drip of dextrose and vitamins keeps him lucid.
Restoring Rivers by Restoring Flooding
Posted by Brian Richter of The Nature Conservancy and University of Virginia in Water Currents on February 23, 2012 
The Army Corps of Engineers is making floods. It’s true. I’ve seen them doing it. They’ve been doing it for years. And it’s a very good thing for fish, frogs, mussels, wetlands, and local communities that depend on the bounty of healthy river systems and estuaries for their livelihoods and economies. As part of a…
Posted by 
Dr. Çağan Şekercioğlu is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. A professor of conservation biology, ecology and ornithology at the University of Utah Department of Biology, he also directs the Turkish environmental organization KuzeyDoğa. For me, 2011 started with a great post by David Braun, so I will thank him by ending the year with my…
Posted by 
Representatives of the nations around the Mekong River are meeting this week to make a decision regarding the construction of a large new dam that would have varied and substantial effects throughout the region. National Geographic Emerging Explorer Zeb Hogan discusses the possible impacts of the proposed Xayaburi Dam and the importance of this week’s decision.
Still Wild and Free, New Mexico’s Gila River is Again Under Threat
Posted by Sandra Postel of National Geographic's Freshwater Initiative in Water Currents on September 27, 2011 
In today’s world where most rivers are turned on and off like plumbing works, the Gila in southwestern New Mexico is a rare gem: one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the United States and the only one in New Mexico. The Gila (pronounced Heela) spotlights what a river can be when it flows…
Why Rivers Need to Flow — High and Low — Again
Posted by Sandra Postel of National Geographic's Freshwater Initiative in Water Currents on December 1, 2010 
Don’t be surprised if the next time you head down to a river with a fishing pole you pull up a lowly carp instead of a prized native trout. Most rivers no longer flow the way they’re supposed to flow–and that’s changing the mix of fish and other organisms that call them home. That’s a…
Posted by As dams come down in different parts of the world, exciting opportunities are opened to restore lost habitats and cultural sites sacred to indigenous peoples. This post is part of a special National Geographic news series on global water issues. By Mark Angelo As a river advocate and paddler for several decades, I’ve seen many…
Posted by 
Last month, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior joined the governors of Oregon and California, the CEO of electric utility PacificCorp, and the chairmen of the Klamath, Yurok, and Karuk tribes to announce agreements that pave the way for removal of four large dams on the Klamath River by 2020. If ultimately enacted, the plans…
