Response to the Final Report:

Coalition of conservation groups, USA

Open letter to the next President of the United States and new Congress
November 20, 2000

To the New President and 107th Congress:

We need to change the way we think about dams in this country. Most dams in the United States were built to serve important social purposes. We know, however, that social goals change. We also know that dams do not last forever. The needs of the country that built stirring monuments to engineering such as Grand Coolee, Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams have changed. But the purposes and uses and facilities for most federal dams are set the day they are authorized and never change. We build them and then seem to forget that the world around them changes.

The federal government owns at least 1932 significant dams. Most of these were authorized, designed and built decades ago, some almost a century ago. Some of these dams no longer serve the original purpose for which they were built. For most, the effect they have on rivers, fish and wildlife has never been examined closely because they were built long before the development of scientific environmental impact analysis. We know that these dams do indeed have significant environmental impacts--the litany of threatened and endangered species listings, declines in river-dependent fish and wildlife, and problems with water quality leave little doubt.

If we now examined those almost two thousand major federal dams, we would be able to find many ways to improve their performance. In many cases, troublesome environmental impacts caused by dams and water projects can be mitigated simply by changing operations--changing the timing of water releases or using modern hydrological analysis to optimize benefits. In some cases modernizing facilities--installing efficient turbines and generators, eliminating wasted water and power, or installing fish ladders--can increase benefits. In a small number of cases those impacts are simply the price paid for the benefits and we either accept the cost or remove the dam.

On November 16, 2000, the World Commission on Dams--a multi-stakeholder international commission--released the results of a thoughtful and full appraisal of the promise and delivery of large dam projects worldwide. This World Bank and World Conservation Union (IUCN) sponsored effort finds that in many cases, the economic benefits of dams are much oversold, and the environmental and social costs much underestimated. While the Commission's report focuses primarily on new dam construction, it also addresses the ongoing impacts of existing dams, and makes recommendations on how to maximize benefits from existing dams. Foremost of its recommendations for existing dams is a call for periodic comprehensive reevaluation of the facilities and performance of dams, and an evaluation of dam operations every 5 to 10 years.

The United States is proud to have been the world leader in building large dams. But we cannot claim leadership in adapting our dams to today's needs based on today's scientific and technical knowledge--we are at odds with one of the World Commission on Dams' core recommendations. Although some privately owned dams in the US conduct periodic reevaluation of their facilities and performance, it is rare for federally owned dams to conduct such a reevaluation. In short, the dams owned by the US government are not keeping up with the times.

We call on you, the new President and the 107th Congress, to undertake a periodic reassessment of federally owned dams, their facilities and operations, as well as environmental, economic and social performance. The World Commission on Dams has an excellent idea. We urge you to follow that recommendation, and exercise the oversight authority you have in periodic reviews.

American Rivers · American Whitewater · Defenders of Wildlife · Endangered Species Coalition · Environmental Defense · Friends of the Earth · International River Network · Izaak Walton League of America · Natural Resources Defense Council · Trout Unlimited

Alabama Rivers Alliance · Appalachian Mountain Club · California Outdoors · CalTrout · Coldwater Fisheries Coalition · Connecticut/ Rhode Island Coastal Fly Fishers · Conservation Law Foundation · Environmental Action! · Friends of the Eel River · Friends of the River · Hackensack Riverkeeper Inc. · High Country Citizens' Alliance · Idaho Rivers United · Institute for Fisheries Research · Kern River Alliance · Marion County Water Watch · Mississippi River Revival · Montana River Action · Natural Heritage Institute · Natural Resources Council of Maine · North Carolina Watershed Coalition · Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations · RiverTales.com · Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance · Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper · WaterWatch of Oregon · West Virginia Rivers Coalition