How does hydroelectricity affect the environment




















Methane, a strong greenhouse gas, may also form in some reservoirs and be emitted to the atmosphere. In the Columbia River, along the border of Oregon and Washington, salmon must swim upstream to their spawning grounds to reproduce, but the series of dams gets in their way. Different approaches to fixing this problem have been used, including the construction of "fish ladders" which help the salmon "step up" the dam to the spawning grounds upstream.

Home Energy and Environment Hydropower and the Environment. Fish Ladders Help Salmon Reach Their Spawning Grounds In the Columbia River, along the border of Oregon and Washington, salmon must swim upstream to their spawning grounds to reproduce, but the series of dams gets in their way. The physical impacts of a dam and reservoir, the operation of the dam, and the use of the water can change the environment over a much larger area than the area a reservoir covers.

Manufacturing the concrete and steel in hydropower dams requires equipment that may produce emissions. If fossil fuels are the energy sources for making these materials, then the emissions from the equipment could be associated with the electricity that hydropower facilities generate. However, given the long operating lifetime of a hydropower plant 50 years to years these emissions are offset by the emissions-free hydroelectricity.

Greenhouse gases GHG such as carbon dioxide and methane form in natural aquatic systems and in human-made water storage reservoirs as a result of the aerobic and anaerobic decomposition of biomass in the water. The exact amounts of GHG that form in and are emitted from hydropower reservoirs is uncertain and depend on many site specific and regional factors.

The Safe Harbor Dam on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania has elevators that lift migrating shad from the base of the dam to the top of the reservoir. Hydropower turbines kill and injure some of the fish that pass through the turbine.

The U. Many species of fish, such as salmon and shad, swim up rivers and streams from the sea to reproduce in their spawning grounds in the beds of rivers and streams. Dams can block their way. Different approaches to fixing this problem include the construction of fish ladders and elevators that help fish move around or over dams to the spawning grounds upstream.

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