The Associated Press. “Morocco evacuates 140,000 people as torrential rains and dam releases trigger floods.” ABC News, 5 February 2026, https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/morocco-evacuates-140000-people-torrential-rains-dam-releases-129889549

Morocco is dealing with an extreme weather event. The flooding is so severe that 140,000 residents have been evacuated from a large area. This is due to extreme flooding and overflow of their dams. These dams are being loaded with so much water at once that they flood and destroy the surrounding area. Many important infrastructures are being destroyed that these local areas rely on, things like farms, hospitals, schools, and more, are being taken out. Morocco has been in a state of severe drought for the last seven years and was unprepared for this much rain.

This made me think about how some places in the world are experiencing extreme drought as a result of climate change, while Morocco, once a place of drought, is experiencing the exact opposite. It’s important to help countries experiencing extreme weather and to prepare for a worst-case scenario. These countries are beginning to shift their focus away from dams, especially during this time of inconsistency and risk, especially to human lives. I wonder whether the risks involved with hydroelectric dams make them worth the cost of building and maintaining. We are beginning to find more and more problems on the local and global levels.

“Hydropower Is Getting Less Reliable as the World Needs More Energy.” The New York Times, 17 November 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/business/energy-environment/brazil-hydropower-clean-energy-cop30.html. Accessed 5 February 2026.

Brazil is facing an extreme decrease in hydroelectric reliability due to climate change. Despite rising demand for electricity, generation from dams has decreased by 3%. In this case, extreme weather conditions are to blame. Droughts are becoming more and more common, reducing many power plants to less than half their capacity. Brazil’s deforestation problem has also weakened the natural water system. Uprooting large trees can cause erosion and more landslides, further reducing efficiency. This is not just Brazil, and many other countries are going through a similar situation. Dams are proving to be more expensive and age over time, forcing Brazil to move toward solar and wind projects. Solar has had a 10% boom in Brazil. While hydropower is still the dominant supply of electricity in Brazil, they are moving toward new opportunities and renovations.

This is interesting, how Brazil is so heavily reliant on Hydropower and what will happen to them in the future. I wonder whether, over time, solar and wind will decrease while hydropower increases again. The connection between the large rainforests in Brazil and the loop back to soil health and the natural water cycle really interests me. Maybe this is a sign for Brazil to prioritize its natural resources and limit deforestation to help address its loss of hydropower. Will hydropower become useless and ancient, or will it recover? I think it will recover over time as our climate heals, forcing countries to shift back to hydroelectric generation.

International Water Power and Dam Construction. “At a crossroads: Peru’s hydropower in an era of diversification.” Waterpower Magazine, 5 February 2026, https://www.waterpowermagazine.com/analysis/at-a-crossroads-perus-hydropower-in-an-era-of-diversification/?cf-view.

Peru has been relying heavily on hydropower for the last few decades and are actually expecting a decline in Hydropower efficiency. Climate change has increased wind speeds, and droughts are affecting dam efficiency. Increased frequency of El Niño events has forced Peru to use backup fossil fuel generation. The rise of solar and wind is becoming a strategy, and Peru will begin its efforts to adjust its new power mix. Solar and wind capacity are expected to double, and Peru has strict goals to meet to reduce emissions. Wind and Solar are actually much cheaper to scale and put less risk on local ecosystems as well. Peru’s goals have shifted from having hydroelectric power as its main source of electricity to having it support and stabilize a large system. It can no longer provide enough results to be the baseload forever, so Peru will prioritize improving existing dams rather than expansion.

This makes me think about how much countries will have to adapt as they fight climate change. What happens when we start reducing emissions, and that wind goes away? Peru does not have the luxury of relying on one, consistent energy source. This article highlights how all countries that plan to reach net-zero emissions must be able to adapt consistently to environmental changes. Local weather events may limit some countries from reaching predicted goals, and Peru is one of the first to be forced to completely shift their strategy.

Advancing Earth and Space Science. “Exposing the most dangerous dams in the US.” AGU, 16 December 2025, https://news.agu.org/press-release/exposing-the-most-dangerous-dams-in-the-us/.

This is a news article about unsafe dams across the United States. Some are considered degrading, while others “sink into the ground”. In the United States, more than 16,000 dams have high-hazard potential. Most dams were built several decades ago, and damage can be out of sight from inspectors. The study detected ground sinkage over 10 years and focused on taller dams, which demonstrated greater collapse risk. The dams in the Roanoke Rapids area are getting worse, even after being considered stabilized. A collapsing dam can cause damage to surrounding areas. Downstream towns could face flooding, and habitats could be wiped out. As the climate worsens, dams face more intense rainfall and even more water pressure over time. We need to provide better maintenance and inspections if we want an improvement in dam quality.

This is really scary to consider. While we are generating lots of electricity, we have not been maintaining hydroelectricity, and our dams seem to be outdated. The last thing we need is an attempt at clean energy being more harmful than good. I think the United States should place a higher priority on environmental goals, including better inspections on dams and even new dams for increased generation.

“China starts building world’s largest dam, fuelling fears in India.” BBC, 21 July 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gk1251w14o. Accessed 5 February 2026.

China has begun construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. It will be called the Motuo Hydropower Station, on the Yarlung Tsangpo River. This is going to be a crazy achievement for clean energy and hydropower. If completed, the Motuo Station would go down in history. It would generate three times as much electricity as the next-largest dam, Three Gorges, also in China. This is becoming a concern for countries south of China, like India and Bangladesh, which would be at the mercy of China’s control of the dams’ flow. China’s control over the flow gives it power and the ability to dry up or flood southern countries. This would be a 167 billion dollar dam, and it has clear risks at its size. India’s government is concerned about flooding risks and has asked for transparency.

I think it’s important to develop as many sources of clean energy as possible, and China is leading the way with these HUGE projects. There is a risk posed by such large dams, especially now that we are seeing increasingly inconsistent water behavior due to climate change. I understand some countries are concerned about the imbalance of power among the surrounding countries. We need to double our hydropower capacity by 2050, and all countries will have to reach some sort of agreement to put aside conflict. The priority should be net zero until we see a decline in atmospheric greenhouse gases.

Carrieann. (2026, January 19). US Senate approves record funding for hydropower and pumped storage for FY2026.

https://www.waterpowermagazine.com/news/us-senate-approves-record-funding-for-hydropower-and-pumped-storage-for-fy2026/?cf-view

The US Senate approved the highest federal funding for hydropower and pumped storage as it is part of the FY2026 Energy and Water spending bill. There’s a budget of 79 million dollars for hydropower and pumped storage facilities which is the highest since 2008. The program also allocates money for data analytics and testing facilities that help upgrade hydropower infrastructure. The bill also allows funding for marine energy such as wave power projects to push the technologies closer to commercialization. 

This article shows that hydropower and pumped storage are being taken seriously as a long term solution for a stable clean energy system. Wind and solar power are unreliable and unstable because they rely on external factors such as weather. This funding to me shows that the government sees water based energy as essential for the future of the nation and how investing in research and development now can prevent energy shortages later. 

Casey, T. (2026, January). Rye on a roll: US developer greenlit for massive pumped hydro energy storage project on brownfield. CleanTechnica. 

https://cleantechnica.com/2026/01/22/rye-on-a-roll-us-developer-greenlit-for-massive-pumped-hydro-energy-storage-project-on-brownfield/

This article explains how pumped hydropower is the biggest large-scale energy storage in the US and how it makes up 95% of the utility scale storage. The Article focuses on the Goldenhale Energy Storage Project in Washington which is a 1.2 gigawatt pumped storage facility which was just approved for a 40 year license. The project will be used to store energy by pumping water uphill during low demand and releasing it during high demand to generate electricity to make it renewable. It’s a “closed loop system” which is built on a former industrial brownfield to provide 12 hours of energy storage and create lots of construction jobs and create revenue for local communities. 

This article shows how older technologies like pumping hydropower can still play a major role in the future of clean energy while batteries and new storage systems are developing, pumped storage is already reliable and able to store large amounts of energy for a long time. This is important because renewable energies like wind and solar need strong backup systems when production is low due to weather. Using brownfield places makes this more sustainable by reusing land that’s already developed which proves that clean energy is not always starting from scratch but improving what already exists. 

Lakhanpal, V. (2026, January 22). Hydropower from locks and dams. https://mostpolicyinitiative.org/science-note/hydropower-from-locks-and-dams/

This article explains how dams and locks in the US are currently not generating electricity and could be retrofitted to produce hydropower. Even though hydropower already makes up about 6% of the US electricity, only about 3% of the US’ electricity comes from dams. Retrofitting non powered dams could increase national hydropower capacity by about 12 gigawatts which is about 15%. But most dams are not even suitable to be retrofitted because of the high costs and dangers that come along with it. The article also talks about the NPD HYDRO toolkit which is an online website that allows users to identify which dams are the best candidates to be retrofitted. 

This article showed that expanding clean energy isn’t always about building new structures but sometimes it means to improve what exists already.  Retrofitting dams is a practical way to increase renewable energy while avoiding the damage to the environment caused by building a whole new dam. A lot of dam projects fail because of high costs and lots of environmental risks which is why we need careful planning. I think this approach is a good balance between energy expansion and the protection of the environment.

Kaufman, A. C. (2025, October 7). US hydropower is at a make-or-break moment. Canary Media. https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/10/07/us-hydropower-is-at-a-make-or-break-moment/

 Hundreds of old plants are turning into expensive and long relicensing deadlines. About 450 hydroelectric states making it more than 16 gigawatts of power needed to go through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the next ten years. Also, many operators are choosing to shut down the dams instead of keeping them because of having to pay for upgrades that most of the time cost more money than building a new one. Most of the costs come from environmental standards such as fish passages for salmon and trouts and eels. While others believe that hydropower is a very reliable and renewable energy source because it provides stable electricity that doesn’t depend on weather. The writer suggests the usage of tax credits and improved turbine technology and using dams for power generation could help keep hydropower alive and prevent the loss of clean energy.

This article allowed me to understand why protecting clean energy also means preserving what already exists and not just building new projects. I think that Hydropower gives stable power is important as energy demand increases. But strict licensing rules such as in the article can push operators to shut down plants which essentially reduces clean energy production. I think the US should make it easier to upgrade old hydropower facilities while still protecting wildlife. 

Alexander, K. (2026, January 11). PG&E plans to remove century-old California dams. But there’s a new obstacle: Trump. San Francisco Chronicle. https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/trump-pge-dam-removal-21273652.php

PG&E wants to remove the century old Potter Valley project dams in Northern California because they are getting old, they are starting to cost a lot of money, and they aren’t economically efficient. The project is controversial because the dams are losing a lot of water from the Eel River to the Russian River which is used to supply farms, vineyards, and communities nearby. But the Trump administration is attempting to stop the takedown of these dams by making the FERC reject PG&E’s license surrender application. The Trump administration says that the dams are vital to agriculture and firefighting and rural communities  but the FERC cant force a company to continue operating an unprofitable hydroelectric project so PG&E will probably follow through with the dismantling, which has a cost of 530 million dollars. Supposedly the dismantling of the dams will allow the restoration of the Eel River and reopen salm habitats.

I think removing the dams will be able to benefit ecosystems and endangered salmon but it could also backfire towards farmers and communities that depend on the water. This shows that fighting for climate change is not always a good thing and even projects meant to protect the environment have serious consequences. To me, this shows how California’s environmental policies must be balanced between restoring biodiversity but also protecting our people. The interfering of politics can also complicate things making solutions slower and more controversial depending on the political compass.