Removing Hydropower Dams Can Restore Ecosystems, Build Climate Resilience, and Restore Tribal Lands

Bonneville Dam, Columbia River. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

A free-flowing river supports abundant fish and wildlife, provides drinking water, and other intangible recreational benefits. But humans have sought to block rivers with dams for millennia. While dams have provided benefits like hydroelectricity and water storage, they have also been ecologically disastrous. Besides blocking fish migrations, these human-made structures can destroy seasonal pulses of water that keep ecosystems in balance.