and trucks.
PROS
■ Dams help control flooding.
■ Low operating and maintenance costs, which result in affordable
electricity.
■ No polluting waste products.
■ Long life spans.
■ Moderate to high net-useful energy.
■ Provide water storage for municipal and agricultural use and serve as
areas for water recreation (e.g., boating, fishing, and swimming).CONS
■ Dams create large flooded areas behind the dam from which people are
displaced.
■ Water behind the dam is slow-moving and can be a breeding ground for
mosquitoes, snails, and flies—the vectors that carry malaria, river
blindness, schistosomiasis, and the Zika virus.
■ Dams destroy wildlife habitats and keep fish (e.g., salmon) from
migrating.
■ Sedimentation behind the dam requires dredging. Dredging prevents
sediments and nutrients from reaching downstream and enriching the
farmland.
■ They are expensive to build.
■ They reduce the amount of land available for agriculture.
■ They destroy wild rivers.
■ There is a risk of flooding from catastrophic dam failure (e.g.,
earthquakes).