Many hydroelectric dams produce modest amounts of power yet do enormous damage to rivers and fish. Why not free our rivers from these ageing structures and build solar farms in the drained reservoirs? Yale Environment 360 reports
Hydroelectric power is often touted as clean energy, but this claim is true only in the narrow sense of not causing air pollution. In many places, such as the US East Coast, hydroelectric dams have damaged the ecological integrity of nearly every major river and have decimated runs of migratory fish.
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No other action can bring ecological integrity back to rivers as effectively as dam removals.
In breaching a dam and draining a reservoir, substantial areas of land could become available for new uses.
It may be that hydro companies should not continue to act as gatekeepers for what could otherwise be healthy rivers.