This essay is about the pro's and con's of having damns

Essay by angelbabeB-, September 2002

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Pros and Cons of Dams

Thought out school I always learner that dams are a really good thing. Up until I read this article off the Internet. After reading this I discovered that dams are socially and some time economically damaging. Where as I found that they were good for environmentally good. You might ask why I'm writing this, we'll it is to discuss and to inform you of the pros and cons of dams.

First I'm going to discuss the cons of having dams. One reason that dams are not good is because they put large number of people out of their homes. They have to make the area around their dam's reservoirs. People that live downstream from the dam are at risk for diseases that may grow around reservoirs like malaria, schistosmasis and leishmaniasis. Dams also damage fisheries and contaminate water supplies. Most people that get evicted from their land and homes are the un wealthy farmers and indigenous people.

Because of this these people cultural suffer, they also tent to be at a higher risk for sickness and maybe even die, this also cause extreme psychological stress on them. Dams have also killed may people from collapsing. Another problems is the cost of large dams, they tent to be rather costly.

Now you must think that Dams are horrible walls that are good for nothing, but there have some good advantage to them. Even though dams may kick people off there land, the land around that area then to be more fertile land then most areas. A lot of dams are they're of irrigation reasons and most large dams are used for hydropower. Hydropower is cheap to produce but rather costly to built the dams to produce it. About one-fifth of the world gets there electricity...