Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large DamsEntirely updated in the light of the recent World Commission on Dams Report, and responding to it, this new edition of Patrick McCully's now classic study shows why large dams have become such a controversial technology in both industrialized and developing countries. The book explains the history and politics of dam building worldwide and shows why large dams have become so controversial. It details the ecological and human impacts of large dams, and shows how the 'national interest' argument is used to legitimize uneconomic and unjust projects which benefit elites while impoverishing tens of millions, describes the technical, safety and economic problems of dam technology, the structure of the international dam-building industry, and the role played by international banks and aid agencies. |
From inside the book
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... sediments as much as one of flowing water . When a river is stilled behind a dam , the sediments it contains sink to the bottom of the reservoir . The proportion of a river's total sediment load captured by a dam - known as its ' trap ...
... sediment dis- charge is even more expensive and difficult than gathering streamflow data , and so there is little reliable information available on the sediment carried by the world's rivers . Sediment flows vary widely both annually ...
... sediment . The actual process of sediment deposition is unique to every reservoir and is impossible to predict accurately . In general , the coarser , heavier sediments , the gravel and sand , tend to settle out at the upper end of the ...
Contents
Acknowledgements | viii |
Introduction to the Updated Edition | xv |
The Power and the Water | 1 |
Copyright | |
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