Dams Are Wrong Answer to Climate Change

This video and narration is so full of errors that one doesn't know where to start to debunk it. For instance, the one dam failure photo they showed was the recent Delhi dam failure in Iowa, USA which failed because of too much water and poor maintenance. What does that have to do with global warming and the lack of water? The other failure is the Chinese dam that failed during a seismic event. Are we supposed to believe now that earthquakes are also caused by global warming? INR is a corrupt organization that will use lies to make a point because they go unchallenged and are believable by the average individual who has no way of discerning the facts.

Dear Editor – The video presented as “news” on your site is a one-sided opinion put together by the “Friends of the Earth” and “International Rivers” to further the single-minded anti-dam views of their leadership. The video begins encouragingly with common sense goals to address Global Climate Change, including the reduction of fossil fuels, more efficient use of energy and the increased use of renewable forms of energy. Unfortunately, the piece then launches into an assault on all dams. This conspiracy conjecture is absolutely not true and there is no evidence to support such accusations.

The remaining portion of the video includes distorted details, misinformation and flat-out untruths, including pictures taken out of context to support extremist statements. These images are construed to incite ill feelings towards the dams and reservoirs without considering the critical power and water supplies that are being provided to people in cities and villages to survive. It is interesting that the video shows the drought effects on Lake Mead as an example of how dams cannot react to changing climate. When in fact, Lake Mead is a perfect example of how dams can be part of a sustainable solution. Good foresight and rational policy has allow this dam and reservoir to continue to provide reliable and clean power, water supplies and recreation even during a 10 year drought. Without Lake Mead’s storage, the drought would have had catastrophic effects on western portions of the United States.

For thousands of years, society has built dams to prevent catastrophic flood damages, provide a dependable supply of water for agriculture and domestic needs and provide renewable power to support the economies of growing and increasingly civilized populations. Society is best served by the balanced examination of the benefits and costs of dams to arrive at good decisions about new dams, modifying or remediating existing dams, or decommissioning dams as is appropriate given our best current engineering, scientific and social understanding. Some of the benefits of dams are documented on the USSD website at http://ussdams.org/benefits.html. Specific information on incorporating climate change science into the design, construction, and operations of our water resources management infrastructure is addressed in a published a report, "Addressing Climate Change in Long-Term Water Resources Planning and Management: User Needs for Improving Tools and Information." This report can be accessed at http://www.usbr.gov/climate/userneeds/.

The individuals that prepared this anti-dam video under the guise of climate change concerns never address real solutions to these serious needs of our worldwide population. The United States Society on Dams and other similar organizations are committed to developing infrastructure to meet the critical standard-of-living needs of people in a world with an ever-increasing population, including adaptability to climate change and sustainable development. We invite you and your many readers to take a hard, factual look at dams and the part they can play in dealing with climate change and welcome your participation in this conversation.



Michael F. Rogers

President, United States Society on Dams

The FOE/INR video is full of untruths. Reservoirs are not significant contributers of greenhouse gases. If they were, following the illogic of the video, we would need to drain all natural lakes such as the great lakes, and maybe the oceans, too.

Hoover Dam was built to even out the water supply in the highly variable and drought prone Colorado Basin. Of course it is drawn down during a multi-year drought. If it wasn't, disaster in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc.

Hoover Dam was also designed to supply large amounts of hydroelectric power. Dams with hydroelectric power are the most efficient and least costly renewable energy source (more efficient and considerably less costly than wind or solar energy). Hydroelectric pumped storage to store energy for when the sun doesn't shine and/or the wind doesn't * is by far less costly and more efficient than batteries and other energy storage means.

Hydroelectric power does not involve burning anything. You cannot be cleaner than that.