Negative Impacts Of Hydroelectric Power Plants On The Environment And People
Hydropower is a type of power that is derived from being spinning turbines by falling water. Since the ancient times, hydropower has been used by people to help their works like wheat milling process or irrigation. In the late 19th century with the development of electricity, it became a source for producing electricity.
Cragside in Northumberland was the first house powered by hydroelectricity in 1878 and the first commercial hydroelectric power plant was built at Niagara Falls in 1879. In 1881, street lamps in the city of Niagara Falls were powered by hydropower. When we take a look history of hydroelectric power, it seems harmless, yet most people in the world think that hydroelectric power plants provide clear, cheap, reliable power for their countries. Because when electricity is produced, they do not expose contaminant or they do not waste water. Because of this approach of the society, the number of hydroelectric power plants is increased. However they did not know that hydroelectric power plants are not innocent enough. Although they do not contaminate the environment directly, by deteriorating habitats of creatures they contaminate it indirectly. Thereby the number of hydroelectric plants in the world should not be increased because they cause problems like deterioration of animal habitats, deterioration of cultivated areas and uprooting human population.
First of all, they cause deterioration of animal habitats by means of closing migration routes of animals. For example, in the Columbia River, along the border of Orgeon and Washington, salmon have to swim upstream to reach their breeding grounds, but the series of dams block their way. Hydroelectric power plants may also change the water temperature and rivers’ flow. Water which is captured behind high dams is generally cooler in summer and warmer winter than river water, when dam gates are opened, the two type of water conjoin, and river temperature changes. Warming or cooling the natural river affects the amount of dissolved oxygen and suspended solids it contains and influences the chemical reactions which take place in it. An OPB News article which was published in 2016 demonstrates this case: Conservation groups announced plans Monday to sue the Environmental Protection Agency. They say the agency isn’t doing enough to protect salmon from high water temperatures on the Columbia and Snake rivers. Warm water can be deadly for salmon. Just last year, 250,000 sockeye died on the Columbia because of high temperatures.
Therefore, this case threatens lives of animals and plants that exist in the rivers. Fish, for instance, are very sensitive to temperature changes. Thus we can say that hydroelectric power plants damage to the natural life around the river.
Instead, hydroelectric power plants deteriorate cultivated areas around rivers by collecting fertile sediments behind dams. For example, before the Aswan High Dam, the Nile River carried about 124 million tons of sediment to the sea each year, depositing nearly 10 million tons on the floodplain and delta. Today, 98% of that sediment remains behind the dam. Furthermore, when dam gates are opened, river waters cover cultivated areas. According to an article of local newspaper Deseret News which was published 2017; broken dam in Elco County, Nevada flooded farmland and homes and stopped Union Pacific Trains. So these examples show that if the number of dams are increased, the cultivated around rivers areas will fade away.
On the other hand, these floods like I indicated previous paragraph cause deterioration of human settlements. For instance, the Teton Dam, which was an earthen dam on the Teton River in Idaho, United States, suffered a catastrophic failure on June 5, 1976, as it was filling with for the first time. The collapse of the dam resulted in the deaths of 11 people and 13,000 cattle. The dam cost about $100 million to build and the federal government paid over $300 million in claims related to its failure. Moreover, because construction of a dam takes up a large chunk of land, it forces relocation of humans. A quotation of The Guardian article, which was released in 2010, can be exemplified this case:
Giant hydroelectric dams being built or planned in remote areas of Brazil, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Peru and Guyana will devastate tribal communities by forcing people off their land or destroying hunting and fishing grounds, according to a report by Survival International today.
The first global assessment of the impact of the dams on tribes suggests more than 300,000 indigenous people could be pushed towards economic ruin and, in the case of some isolated Brazilian groups, to extinction. Thus, we can say that hydroelectric power plants just conduce that rich guys fill their pockets with money. However, against these propositions, people say that hydroelectric power is cheaper than its alternatives and it does not pollute air, water or soil. Yes hydropower is cheaper than its alternatives, but when it harms the soil, we will not be able to turn back to those days, and yes it has not visible pollution, but it deteriorates the environment in long time. They cannot see the corruption, but it goes on. So when they assert these claims, they are wrong.
Most people think that hydroelectric plants are innocent, because there is no pollutant or wasted water. However, they cannot understand that hydropower dams deteriorate habitats of animals and humans, and also decrease productivity on agricultural areas. Every year because of the dam failures thousands of people die and become homeless. However, the number of dams increases, since thanks to the indifferent attitude of society, governments keep on permitting to construct new ones. Even if there are some environmental movements like the International Anti-Dam Movement, researches and movements on the issue are still insufficient.
