Opperman, J. (2019, July 16). Remove A Dam And Bend The Curve For Fish. Retrieved November 11, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffopperman/2019/07/16/remove-a-dam-and-bend-the-curve-for-fish/#68ed79e84b68.
Fish populations have been decreasing with an 83% decline in freshwater-dependent species (according to the Living Planet Index). For 50 years, that Index has shown a consistent downward curve. However, removing a dam can help change this. After dam removal on the Penobscot, the amount of river herring increased from a few thousand to over two million. Changes in renewable energy – like the deployment of wind and solar – along with various innovative solutions, is setting the stage for increasing fish populations. Many dams in the US are being removed because they are old and unsafe. Small barriers can be removed for a relatively low cost. Oftentimes, for a tiny loss in electricity production, dams can be changed to dramatically help fish. For example, a study for the Willamette River basin found that removing 12 out of 150 dams would reconnect 52% of the drainage basin to the ocean — key for restoring salmon habitat — with a loss of less than 2% of the basin’s hydropower generation.
This article has a more hopeful tone in regard to the future. The idea that by removing dams, people truly make a huge difference for animals is inspiring. The focus on innovation is important as it shows that not all solutions depend on technology: some just need some clever thinking. Evaluating which dams have the largest impact on the environment allows people to remove the dams that harm the environment the most and produce the least electricity. While not all dams need, or should, be destroyed, getting rid of some can help endangered species recover. There are clearly environmental benefits to destroying dams, but there are also some environmental costs to destroying them. For one, waste is created from the old dam, also it takes energy to destroy something so massive, and that electricity is probably coming from fossil fuels.
Are the environmental costs to destroying the dams long term or short term, and are the benefits long term or are they short term? It’s good to hear good news when it comes the environment. I also really liked when you mentioned that focusing on innovations shows that not all solutions rely on technology or technological advancements. How would destroying the dams affect local communities? Both human and natural communities.
I think this article is very interesting and it makes me happy to see that there are steps being taken to restore certain species. Is there any data to prove that these measures have in fact worked? This also brings up the ethical question of at what point can renewable energy interfere with the natural environment.