Happy 4th of July Weekend!
In Big Dam News:
U.S. and Brazil Agree on Renewable Energy Targets and they DON’T include Hydropower – A Win for Rivers! huffingtonpost.com
In a win for the environment and rivers, the U.S. and Brazil announced today that they are joining forces to fight climate change by increasing targets for renewable energy from sources other than hydropower. The U.S. has agreed to increase use of renewable energy to 20% of total (about triple the current share) and Brazil has agreed to double its use of renewables by 2030. President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff, along with other international leaders, are preparing for the UN’s global climate summit in Paris at the end of this year.
Dams have become a contentious topic in Brazil, as the Belo Monte dam, the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam, is currently being constructed and will flood an area larger than New York City, displace 40,000 indigenous people and divert 80% of the Xingu River, a major tributary to the Amazon. Read more about the Belo Monte dam here.
A Wonder in Decline (Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica. Photography by Michael Friberg.)
Do Dams Conserve Water or Lose Water?
Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River, bordering Utah and Arizona. It is the 2nd largest man-made reservoir behind Lake Mead which lies south of Powell. Powell supplies water to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico and under the Colorado River Compact, must supply a certain level of water to Lake Mead which in turn supplies water to Nevada, Arizona, California and Mexico. See map here. Problem is that the agreement assumed the water levels would always be the same. Lake Powell has been running woefully low (39 – 51% full) due to drought conditions in the west. According to this report by ProPublica, the Colorado River would show a water increase of 6% if Lake Powell went away. Significant amounts of water are lost due to seepage into the limestone and evaporation. See the beautiful photography and read more here. This report produced some good dam debate on the Let Rivers Flow news page.
Like Stickers?
Choose THIS:
Not THIS (taken on Hwy 31, AL)
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Thank you and have a safe, happy holiday. |
