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Dam (hydropower)

What are the Pros and cons to generating electricity from


Hydropower?
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Pros:
o Dams are relatively inexpensive to operate.
Yet they are very expensive to build.
o Dams generate clean power
Hydropower is renewable and doesnt emit greenhouse
gases or other air pollutants.
o Dams improve quality of life
Prevent flooding, create jobs, and provide cheap electricity,
irrigation, and drinking water.
Cons:
o Dams alter river habitats in many ways.
Upstream: flooding
Downstream: not enough water
o Natural cycles are disrupted.
Floodplains dont receive nutrients from sediments
because they get trapped behind dams.
o Temperature of the water is changed.
Aquatic populations go extinct.
o Dams prevent anadromous fish from laying eggs.
Micro-hydropower

What are the effects of water diversion?


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Aqueducts diversion
Pros:
o Its bringing water to people that dont usually have it
Cons:
o Its losing water to evaporation because its being transported to
dry and hot places.

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