Exploring Hydropower

Hoover Dam

About 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, NVBlack Canyon, Colorado River, 1922

Built during Depression era, thousands showed up to work.

Hoover Dam Construction

http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/gallery/historicviews.html

From 500 ft above Colorado River, 1932

Jumbo rig, to dig tunnels to divert river

GRAVITATIONAL ENERGY

Harnessing Water Power

World’s First Hydropower Plant

Top Hydropower Producing States- 2010 (thousand megawatt hours)

1. Washington 66,1122. California 33,8763. Oregon 30,288 4. New York 25,2015. Montana 9,2306. Idaho 9,1617. Alabama 9,0898. Tennessee 8,3069. Arizona 6,62610. South Dakota 5,765

How many dams are there?

• Over 1400 named dams in California• Over the past 50 years (since 1959), California

has added a whopping 21 million acre-feet of storage, including some of the largest reservoirs in the State.

• List of dams in California• Where are they?• Building of dams video since 1800

Damming of America• During the twentieth century the

United States built thousands of dams.

• By the 1950s most of the best potential dam sites in the United States had been utilized.

• In the 1970s, the major era of dam-building ended.

• 1978, Construction of the Tellico Dam was delayed when a small endangered fish called the snail darter was discovered on the Little Tennessee River. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Endangered Species Act, 6-3 vote. Waiver issued, and finished dam in 1979, flooding the darter habitat. Dam itself is not hydroelectric, but controls flow to another dam.

Grand Coolee Dam-It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production. It is the largest electric power producing facility in the United States and one of the largest concrete structures in the world.-No fish ladder

Ended the traditional way of life of the native inhabitants. After many years of debate, in 1990’s Colville Indians were paid a lump settlement of approximately $53 million, plus annual payments of approximately $15 million.

Salmon populationAnadromous fish struggle

Wild salmon are endangered

• Confusing legislation• Protected from fishing in specific locations

and populations• There are eight species of Pacific salmon:

chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, pink, steelhead trout, masu and amago salmon (two Asian species).

• Where are the hatcheries and dams?

Humans and nature

• Construction of fish ladders is to help the fish get over the dam, and not get sucked into the turbines, as they return home to spawn

Plants are endangered too

• Furbish's Lousewort is an example of a botanical species endangered by habitat destruction. The plant only occurs along a 143-mi (230-km) reach of the St. John River in Maine and New Brunswick. It was considered extinct until a botanist "re-discovered" it in Maine in 1976. At that time, a proposed hydroelectric reservoir threatened the entire habitat of Furbish's lousewort. In the end, the controversial dam was not built, but the lousewort remains threatened by habitat loss.

China

Three Gorges Dam

• Before and after

What about the animals?• 300 species of fish

impacted• Chinese River

Dolphins- less than 100 left

• Chinese Sturgeon, Chinese Tiger, Chinese Alligator, Siberian Crane, and the Giant Panda also affected

What is the value of a single species?

California has twice as many federally listed endangered or threatened species as any other state. Worldwide endangered animals (from dams) include:

•Chinese River Dolphins•Chinook Salmon•West African Manatees•The Indus River dolphin or Susu•New Zealand Blue Duck or whio•New Zealand Long Tailed Bat

• Silt clogging, generally abandoned within 50 years

• Decommissioning of dams– Process of removal– More than 925 removed in past 100 years

(approximately 79,000 dams in US)– More about dam removal and pros/cons

Advantageso Renewable Energyo Clean Energy Sourceo Domestic Energy Sourceo Generally Available As

Neededo Provides Recreational

Opportunitieso Water Supply and Flood

Control

POSSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

o Fish Populationo Quality and Flow of Watero Ecosystems of Rivers and Streams

Other Disadvantages

oDroughtoImpact on Local

Environment and Land Use

oPreservation Concerns

Coastal Power Plants: Once through cooling

• http://www.cacoastkeeper.org/programs/healthy-marine-habitats/OTC

• Animation– http://www.gracelinks.org/212/power-plants-kill-

fish-animation

Coal vs. Hydro Kinetic Energy Conversion

35% 95%