For decades, the western United States was ground zero for one of the greatest experiments humans had ever undertaken: replumbing the world’s rivers. As Marc Reisner cataloged so forcefully in the book Cadillac Desert, dam builders pursued these mega-projects with little regard for whether they were needed, or what effects they would have on people or the environment. It was an experiment fueled less by need than by greed.
Dam-builders undertook this gargantuan effort without clearly understanding what they would lose – the healthy, productive rivers that were once said to be so thick with fish that you could walk across a river on their bodies.
The U.S. didn’t keep this ecosystem-devastating technology to themselves. Throughout the 20th century, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation busily exported dam technology to other countries around the world, selling these large dams as temples to modernity. Developing countries conveniently gave American companies and engineers fat contracts to build them.
Many U.S. dams are now nearing the end of their lifespan, and dam removals have increased exponentially. But the hydropower boom is still reverberating through the rest of the world. Large dams are being planned and developed on major rivers like the Mekong, the Amazon, and the Congo, where millions depend directly on their rivers for food and livelihoods.
This is madness. In too many cases, local communities shoulder the financial burdens and social and environmental impacts while the developers walk away with a profit. And in an era of climate change, hydropower is a risky and insecure energy source that’s deeply vulnerable to increasingly severe droughts and floods. Furthermore, dams lower the climate resilience of riverine communities. It’s time to find another way.
Learn More
Latest News
- International Hydropower Association’s Greenwashing of Nam Theun 2 Dam’s Impacts on Indigenous Peoples
by Bruce Shoemaker and Ian G. Baird A newly released article by the International Hydropower Association (IHA), titled “Laos: Hydropower built in consultation with Indigenous communities” by Eduard Wojczynski, holds… - PRESS RELEASE | COP26: UN human rights experts highlight continued human rights impacts of dams as civil society, Indigenous leaders call for UN climate financing mechanisms to exclude hydropower
For Immediate Release: November 9, 2021 For Spanish: https://intlrv.rs/3C4CUOS For Portuguese: https://intlrv.rs/3qoyD6A Glasgow, Scotland – As negotiators convened at COP26 in Glasgow attempt to break the deadlock on emissions cuts… - PRESS RELEASE | New Report: Biodiversity loss driven by world’s largest dam builders poses a major challenge for China’s global biodiversity footprint
For Immediate Release: October 13, 2021 Contacts: Josh Klemm, Policy Director, International Rivers/Report Author, +1 202 492 8904 jklemm@internationalrivers.org Bonnie Barclay, Communications Manager, International Rivers, +1 323 363 4874, bbarclay@internationalrivers.org…