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Dams And Resources - College Paper

Dams And Resources

The Environmental Impacts of Large Dams
Land and water are ecologically linked in a natural system called a watershed. From the smallest
droplet to the mightiest river, water works to shape the land, taking with it sediment and dissolved materials
that drain to watercourses and, in most cases, eventually to the sea. So is the river a product of the land it
inhabits--the type of rock and soil, the shape of the land, and the amount of vegetation are some of the
factors that determine the river's shape, size and flow.
When these ties between the land and the river are broken by a large dam, the consequences are felt
throughout the watershed, as well as by the web of life it supports. Of all ...

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5,500 large dams make it the second most dammed country in the world, we have
stopped building large dams, and are now spending great amounts of money trying to fix the problems
created by existing dams.
Although the impacts of large dams have been well documented for some time now, in case after
case, new ones are proposed whose environmental impacts are downplayed or even ignored. A suvey
showed that most dams were built without the consideration of downstream effects, even when these
impacts could be predicted to cause massive coastal erosion, pollution, and other problems.
Reducing the flow of water from a river changes the landscape it flows through, which in turn can
affect the ecosystem's flora and fauna. A dam holds back sediments, especially the heavy gravel and cobbles.
The river, deprived of its sediment load, seeks to recapture it by eroding the downstream channel and banks,
and other riverbank structures. Riverbeds are typically eroded by several meters ...

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Dams And Resources. (2007, June 30). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Dams-And-Resources/67269

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 6/30/2007 12:42:41 PM
Category: Science & Nature
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1199
Pages: 5

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