DAM
NATION: Film, discussion will examine
river science
CARBONDALE, Ill. – A Southern Illinois University
Carbondale graduate student organization wants the community to consider life
without dams.
IGERT, the Integrative Graduate Education and
Research Traineeship, teamed with Sierra Club: Shawnee Group, to bring the film
“DamNation” to campus. The screening is from 6:30 to 9 p.m., Sept. 4, in the John C. Guyon Auditorium in Morris
Library. A reception will follow the movie.
Representatives from IGERT and the Sierra Club: Shawnee Group will
introduce the film, and IGERT members and faculty will be available to discuss
and answer questions about river science and politics. The event is free and
the public is invited to attend.
The award-winning documentary focuses on the role
river dams play in the ecosystem, and advocates for dam removal, particularly
in cases where the structure is in need of costly and extensive repair. The
filmmakers argue that removing dams from once-flowing rivers restores salmon
especially, but other wild fish as well. The filmmakers also examine the
economic advantages to healthy rivers, and address perceived benefits of dams,
including hydropower, flood control and municipal water supply.
For centuries dams have been built for flood
control, irrigation, municipal water supply and power production. All these
needs can now be met more effectively through conservation, improved technology
and better planning, without the negative ecological impacts caused by blocking
and degrading an entire watershed. Of the more than 80,000 dams monitored by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, roughly 26,000 pose what the Corps labels a
“high” or “significant” hazard.
Some dams no longer serve any useful purpose. All
dams, despite their size, have a limited life span. Only 2,540 dams in the U.S.
generate hydropower, producing approximately nine percent of U.S. energy
supply.
