In these five ways, dams may prove very beneficial to countries utilizing them.
Many cities that build dams take advantage of damns as a resource for tourism and revenues. Because dams often pose a majestic view, and provide the opportunity for recreation in the form of boating and camping, many cities use them as a secondary source of revenue. In this sense dams are positive because they attract commerce in cities that need additional capital or revenues. However, along with these advantages come some disadvantages or problems, discussed below.
Disadvantages
As with anything dams also have many disadvantages. For every five advantages dams provide, five disadvantages may be defined. For example, Qing & Sullivan (1999) note that while dams can stimulate economic growth and provide greater energy and power for a city, they can also result in economic devastation and loss of power, in the event a dam collapses (p. 53). Tourism and recreation are often benefits of having a damn, but can pose problems when tourists behave dangerously (as in leaning too far over a damn and falling into the river). While such accidents seem like tales told in a story, they are actual hazards associated with the creation and use of damns.
The collapse of a dam, while not often probable, is a real threat. Because of this dams require constant monitoring which can take a further toll on economic resources. Damns also redirect water, which may enable certain populations to benefit, including residents living near the dam, but may also harm the natural landscape and plant or marine life residing in the region a dam is created (Qing & Sullivan, 1999). While a dam may prevent flooding most of the time, it may result in the mass destruction of an entire residential area should the dam expire.
While dams provide an energy source (water) that will produce less pollution than traditional sources (including coal), the increase in electrical "generation capacity" may result in an over consumption of energy and environmental resources (Qing & Sullivan, 53). Dams may negatively impact the marine life and fish population that would normally live within a river basin, a fourth reason many opponents to dams exist...
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