A young boy stands on the banks of a dry river, a tear falls from his innocent face into the sand of the stream bed. He cannot understand why a once mighty river has dried up. His father took him camping along these wooded banks, canoeing down the rapids, and fishing in the clear waters. With his eyes wandering towards the huge mass of concrete that stands where his favorite waterfall crashed over the rocks, the boy can almost hear the roar of the water he loved to fall asleep to. Back in town, many adults are happy with the construction of the dam. Hydropower is cheap and the economy is booming. Tourists, who came by boat to the lake, brought a large amount of money to the city, and fresh products from irrigated fields pour into the grocery store. 'Life has been better since the dam was built,' you can read in their eyes. The debate over what to do about large hydroelectric dams has raged in the United States since 1935 and the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Arizona. American Rivers (1989) notes that approximately 2,000 hydroelectric dams are in operation and approximately 600,000 of the 3.5 million miles, or nearly 20%, of our rivers are behind dams. It is undisputed even by the most vocal opponents that these dams, if used properly, can provide a wide variety of benefits to humanity, such as: drought reservoirs, water for agricultural irrigation, recreational havens. and as sources of electricity. Because dams retain approximately two-thirds of the water consumed (Conservation Foundation, 1984), irrigate more than $9 billion worth of agricultural land, and are visited by nearly a billion people per year for recreation (Bureau of Reclamation, 1991 ) and pro ...... middle of paper ...... PEGAN, DJ (1994) "We're looking for liners to reduce canal maintenance on hydroelectric projects." Hydro Review, 9, 64-71. RADIGAN, K. (1991) "Dam It All." Trout, Summer Issue, 28- 46. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, BUSINESS, STATISTICS, AND OFFICE OF THE CENSUS. (1991) Ed. PA London, HA Scarr and ML Turner, Statistical Abstract of the United States, Washington, DC, pp. 750. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND BUREAU OF CLEANING. (1985) Hoover Dam. Washington, DC, pp. 5G. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND BUREAU OF RECLAMATION. (1991) Summary – Statistics. Washington, DC, pp. 298.VELTROP, GEN. (1991) “The Large Dam Debate: The Case for It.” Civil Engineering, 61, 46-48.WEATHERFORD, GD & BROWN, FL (1986), New courses for the Colorado River, Albuquerque, NM, pp. 253.