Casey, M. (2021, July 9). Bill aims to spend billions to Fix nation’s aging dams. AP NEWS. https://apnews.com/article/business-health-government-and-politics-environment-and-nature-bills-b08ea4a6aedf972148afd9ef22e51bdf.
Due to concerns about many of the 90,000 U.S. dams that are at risk of failure, Annie Kuster introduced The Twenty-First Century Dams Act. This act proposes that the government spend $26 billion to make repairs and improvements to existing dams in the United States that will make them more safe and increase their power generation capacity. The act also proposes to remove dams that are no longer useful. Because of the increase in frequency and intensity of storms due to climate change, this act is more important than ever in improving public safety and revitalizing ecosystem health.
I agree with the article in believing that this act is necessary for our country and its citizens, as well as the environment. First of all, the way the article discussed all the safety concerns surrounding the dams and how people would be affected if they were to fail provided strong support for this act being passed. Also, the article discussed the environmental impacts of dams and how the environment would be improved if the act were to be passed. Currently, there are around 1,000 dams that could be removed in order to reconnect about 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) of rivers. This river restoration that would come with the removal of dams would help to revitalize ecosystem health and improve the environment.
I thought this article was interesting to read because I think that dams are a topic that not enough people talk about. They can be a great source of hydroelectric power which is a renewable energy source. When will this Dam act take place or finish and are there other countries around the world doing similar things?