Environmentalists, dam operators have started making peace
WASHINGTON — The industry that operates America’s hydroelectric dams and several environmental groups recently announced an unusual agreement to work together to get more clean energy from hydropower while reducing the environmental harm from dams, in a sign that the threat of climate change is spurring both sides to rethink their decadeslong battle over a large but contentious source of renewable power.
The United States generated about 7 percent of its electricity last year from hydropower, mainly from large dams built decades ago, such as the Hoover Dam. But while these facilities don’t emit planet-warming carbon dioxide, the dams themselves have often proved ecologically devastating, choking off America’s once-wild rivers and killing fish populations.
So, over the past 50 years, conservation groups have rallied to block any large new dams from being built, while proposals to upgrade older hydropower facilities or construct new waterpowered energy-storage projects have often been bogged down in lengthy regulatory disputes over environmental safeguards.
The new agreement signals a desire to deescalate this longrunning war.
In a joint statement last week, industry groups and environmentalists said they would collaborate on a set of specific policy measures that could help generate more renewable electricity from dams already in place, while retrofitting many of the nation’s 90,000 existing dams to be safer and less ecologically damaging.
The two sides also said they would work together to accelerate the removal of older dams that are no longer needed, in order to improve the health of rivers.
More than 1,000 dams nationwide have already been torn down in recent decades.
The statement, the result of two years of quiet negotiations, was signed by the National Hydropower Association, an industry trade group, as well as environmental groups including American Rivers, the World Wildlife Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Another influential organization, The Nature Conservancy, listed itself as a “participant,” signaling that it was not prepared to sign the full statement but would stay engaged in the ongoing dialogue over hydropower policies.
Energy experts have said that adding more hydropower could provide a useful tool in the fight against climate change. While wind turbines and solar panels are becoming more widespread, they don’t run all the time, and hydroelectricity can offer a backstop as utilities clean up their electrical grids.
In theory, there’s potential for the United States to get much more energy from running water. An in-depth study by the Department of Energy in 2016 found the nation could increase its hydropower capacity by 50 percent without building any large new dams.
Today, less than 3 percent of the nation’s 90,000 dams generate power. There are numerous smaller dams built for irrigation or flood control that could be retrofitted with turbines to produce electricity.
Some companies are designing new turbines that allow fish to pass safely through, while others are looking at ways to reduce oxygen depletion in the water caused by dams.
The groups also agreed to lobby for policies to repair, or in some cases take down, the thousands of aging dams around the country that are in danger of collapse.