Hydroelectric Dams: a Case Study

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Freshwater Resources ■ Enrich Hydroelectric Dams: A Case Study A hydroelectric dam provides benefits to an area, but it often has disadvantages as well. The Aswan High Dam in Egypt is one of the world’s most important hydroelectric dams. Read the case study below to find out about the consequences of building this dam.

The Aswan Dam The Aswan High Dam spans the Nile River in southern Egypt, far from where the river empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The dam opened in 1964 with great expectations that it would serve the people of Egypt well. Building this new dam required flooding farms and towns to create the reservoir, Lake Nasser, behind it. About 80,000 people in Egypt and neighboring Sudan had to relocate. Lake Nasser has since provided the water to irrigate 405,000 hectares of land that was formerly desert. Because this water is available year-round, farmers can raise crops three times a year instead of only once a year. The Aswan High Dam also supplies the energy needed to produce electricity in hydroelectric power plants. These power plants supply about one third of Egypt’s electrical power. The Egyptian capital, Cairo, far to the north, depends on this electricity for its homes and industries. The dam has stopped the floods that used to cover much of the Nile Valley every year. Although the floods often caused problems for local residents, the floods enriched the soil of the valley by depositing silt. The floods also washed away salts in the soil. To make up for the benefits of floods, farmers now have to treat the land with costly fertilizers. The industries that make the fertilizers use a large share of the electricity produced by the hydropower plants. Finally, silt is building up behind the dam. Much of that silt used to be deposited at the river’s mouth on the Mediterranean Sea. Without that deposition, the sea is creeping inland. The habitats for many kinds of fish have been destroyed because of the changes at the mouth of the river. As a result, thousands of people have lost jobs in the fishing industry. Answer the following on a separate sheet of paper. 1. What are the benefits that the Aswan High Dam has provided? 2. What problems has the dam caused? 3. In your opinion, do the benefits of the dam outweigh the problems? Give reasons for your answer.