Infographic Template Galleries

Created with Fabric.js 1.4.5 Hydro-electricity : resources Water Resource Use :Hydropower often requires the use of dams, which can greatly affect the flow of rivers, altering ecosystems and affecting the wildlife and people who depend on those waters.Often, water at the bottom of the lake created by a dam is inhospitable to fish because it is much colder and oxygen-poor compared with water at the top. Land Resource Use: The construction of hydropower plants can alter sizable portions of land when dams are constructed and lakes are created, flooding land that may have once served as wildlife habitat, farmland, and scenic retreats.. Hydroelectric dams can cause erosion along the riverbed upstream and downstream, which can further disturb wildlife ecosystems and fish populations.Hydroelectric power plants affect various fish populations in different ways. Most notably, certain salmon populations in the Northwest depend on rivers for their life cycles. These populations have been dramatically reduced by the network of large dams in the Columbia River Basin. When young salmon travel downstream toward the ocean, they may be killed by turbine blades at hydropower plants. When adult salmon attempt to swim upstream to reproduce, they may not be able to get past the dams. For this reason, some hydroelectric dams now have special side channels or structures to help the fish continue upstream. When this colder, oxygen-poor water is released into the river, it can kill fish living downstream that are accustomed to warmer, oxygen-rich water.In addition, some dams withhold water and then release it all at once, causing the river downstream to suddenly flood. This action can disrupt plant and wildlife habitats and affect drinking water supplies.
Create Your Free Infographic!