For my research I chose to research the benefits, challenges and issues of creating energy using hydroelectric power.

I had to first ask some questions:

• What does a dam do?
• How does it work?
• Where are they located?
• What are the benefits?
• What are the risks and costs?

  

I have found that there are positives and negatives to building and using a hydroelectric dam to produce energy.

Here are the benefits.  Hydroelectricity:

• is a renewable energy source
• generates very small amounts of greenhouse gases
• it doesn’t release pollutants into the air
• it doesn’t make toxic by-products
• it’s a domestic resource so it can be made by a country itself and isn’t affected by changes in price
• can be controlled through a dam using environmental flows which try to

Here are the costs and challenges.  Hydroelectricity:

• if a reservoir overflows it can flood a town and farms
• it takes a lot of money and time to build a dam
• it depends on precipitation levels which can change how much electricity is made
• can change water quality
• changes the way a river flows because of a dam
• can destroy wildlife and plants
• In the Bridge River Power Project in B.C., the Bridge River Valley flooded in 1959 and affected the St’at’imc Peoples way of life.  Animals were washed away, people had to move and salmon supply went down.

  

I would tell Justin Trudeau that hydroelectricity has many benefits, but that there are also risks.  To make sure that hydropower is safe for people and the environment, I would suggest that people building dams design them carefully to make it better and they could do this by getting to know the land and the environment around a river.  It would also be very important to talk to the community first and to make sure it’s okay for everyone.  Indigenous Peoples must be involved because they are connect to and they live off the land.

I had to go to different websites to find information.  To make sure I was using good sources I went to B.C. Hydro’s website because I know it is a local company.  I also used some of the sources listed for us in our assignment.

Sources:

• The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/dams-can-mimic-the-free-flow-of-rivers-but-risks-must-be-managed-110540
• Energy IQ. https://energyiq.canadiangeographic.ca/learning_centre/topic/1966/Taking-a-holistic-look-at-Canadian-hydropower
• Chemical Processing. https://www.manufacturing.net/chemical-processing/article/13245967/examining-the-pros-and-cons-of-hydropower
• B.C. Hydro. https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/projects/bridge-river-projects.html
• https://globalnews.ca/news/4740944/province-gives-environmental-ok-for-revelstoke-6-project/