Outline and Updated Bibliography

Thesis: Dams are beneficial assets to human life, but should only be built and maintained if they are also designed to not be substantial environmental liabilities through the equal distribution of water and sediments, the monitoring of water and air quality, proper preparations for reservoirs, the maintenance of surrounding life, and the installation of hydroelectric capabilities.


Outline (Note that * denotes the solutions)


Introduction Paragraph: Introduce issue

• discuss widespread use of dams
• only recent analysis of environmental effects
• describe how a dam looks and operates
• info on other perspectives (remove all dams/keep dams as are) and give argument perspective of keep dams, but change them
provide thesis

Benefits/Need for dams Paragraph: Discuss benefits of dams and lead into the however point of problems that need fixed

Support human and animal life

• Flood control
• Irrigation
• Water supply
• Renewable Energy


Water/Sediment distribution Paragraph: Present issues and solutions

• Water cannot reach mouth of some rivers
• Loss of reservoir depth
• Erosion
• Landslides
• Spreading of sediments below dam*
• Artificial floods*
• Agreements on water flow*


Water/Air quality Paragraph: Present issues and solutions

• Lack of oxygen in water below dam
• Release of greenhouse gases into air from decomposing vegetation/animals
• Water quality decrease from decomposing and mercury from soil
• Water becomes dangerous for consumption
• Artificial floods*
• Proper management during creation and operation*


Reservoir/Care for life paragraph: Present issues and solutions

• Loss of beautiful/diverse/needed land
• Earthquakes
• Displacement of humans
• Loss of wildlife
• Loss of vegetation
• Loss of diversity
• Greenhouse gases from decomposition
• Proper analysis of need of dam/effect on land*
• Transportation of animals and vegetation before filling of reservoir*


Migration paths paragraph: Present issues and solutions

• Disruption of migration for fish
• Loss of diversity
• Disruption of migration for land animals
• Loss of diversity
• Inbreeding in animals
• Lack of food for animals
• Lack of food for humans
• Creation of a ladder system to allow fish to pass through dam*
• Creation of alternative water paths for fish to bypass dam*
• Creation of alternative land paths for land animals to bypass dam*


Hydroelectric dams paragraph: Present issues and solutions

• Lack of use of hydroelectric dams
• Issues of hydropower’s low pollution being overshadowed by pollution from overall dam
• Fitting already existing dams with hydroelectric capabilities*
• Construction of future dams as hydroelectric dams*


Conclusion paragraph: summarize everything

• Restate thesis with different wording
• Sum up issues and solutions
• Final thoughts on benefits and future of dams

References

Krishna, Sumi. Environmental Politics: People’s Lives and Development Choices. California: Sage Publications, 1996, Print.

McCartney, Matthew. "Living with dams: managing the environmental impacts." Water Policy 11.s1 (2009), 121-139.

McCully, Patrick. "Rivers No More: The Environmental Effects of Large Dams." International Rivers. International Rivers, Web. 1 Feb 2010. http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1636

Myron, Levin. "INNOVATE: CLEAN POWER THAT'S EASY ON THE ENVIRONMENT." Sierra 95.1 (2010), 14-14.

Yardley, Jim. “Chinese Dam Projects Criticized for Their Human Costs." New York Times November 19, 2007: 1-5. Web. 1 Feb 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/asia/19dam.html.

Yuksel, I. "Dams and Hydropower for Sustainable Development." Energy Sources Part B Economics Planning and Policy 4.1 (2009), 100-110.

WWF, . "Dams Initiative." WWF for a living planet. Web. 22 Feb 2010. http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/water/dams_initiative/.