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		Freshwater Conservation Freshwater Conservation What's New Threats to Freshwater Conservation What You Can Do What We Do   Dams   Floodplains   Watersheds   Environmental Flows   Agriculture   Coastal Rivers   Invasives   Climate Change Where We Work Contact us

How We Work: Water and Energy

Hydropower dam. © Photos.com The Nature Conservancy and Dams Find out how the Conservancy engages decision makers, developers, and engineers around the world to minimize the environmental and social threats posed by dams and other large infrastructure projects. Water and Energy - Tools and Resources Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA): Software for understanding hydrologic changes in ecologically-relevant terms   Case Study:  FERC Hydropower Dam Relicensing Case Study: Patuca River, Honduras (PDF)   Case Study: Yangtze River, China (PDF)   Map: Large dams worldwide (PDF)   Map: Conservancy Freshwater Portfolio Sites Downstream of Hydropower dams (PDF).   Brochure: Hydropower: Sustainability and the future   A Framework for Ecologically Sustainable Water Management (reprinted from Hydro Review, pdf)   Paper: Greening Hydropower: Integrating Environmental Flow Considerations (PDF)   Paper: A Review of Energy Development Needs and the Hydropower Industry in Central America (PDF)   Partners: The US Army Corps of Engineers Hydraulic Engineering Center (HEC) provides valuable software for hydrologic engineering and planning analysis procedures.

In Search of Power

Today, people are using more energy than ever before, and with the human population expected to increase 50 percent by 2050, governments and energy planners are talking about how to meet future needs for energy. Further, in the developing world, nearly 2 billion people still lack access to electricity. In these regions, additional energy sources are needed to alleviate poverty and improve human health.

Many of the governments of the world are saying this looming energy crunch can be solved with hydropower.

Is Hydropower Green?

While it’s true that hydropower prevents the burning of coal or use of oil and fuel, which emit greenhouse gases, its use is not without ramifications. When dams are constructed for hydropower, formerly free-flowing rivers are dramatically altered, harming freshwater habitats and displacing human populations. The environmental and social footprint of a dam can extend far upstream and downstream.

A New Direction

Much can be done to reduce the impacts of the existing 8,000 hydropower dams by modifying their operation or, in the case of proposed dams, through careful location, design and operation.

The Conservancy is working with governments, multi-lateral lending institutions and energy companies around the world to find ways to generate electricity from hydropower dams in a more sustainable manner. The work begins by helping to determine the environmental flows needed sustain river ecosystems. Next, Conservancy scientists work with dam designers and operators to locate, design and operate dams in ways that protect necessary environmental flow regimes and river species.

The Nature Conservancy and Dams

Learn more about how the Conservancy engages decision makers, developers, and engineers around the world to minimize the environmental and social threats posed by dams and other large infrastructure projects.