power (Patreon)

It may look beautiful, and sure, it's all biodegradable, but the level of damage that hydroelectric dams and the man-made lakes they create do to their ecosystems is immeasurable. 

Restoration efforts on the Elwha Dam Removal Project on the Washington Peninsula have produced some successes, but it will likely take over a generation for fish, wildlife, and vegetation levels to resemble anything similar to what they did before the dam was constructed. Frankly, I'm skeptical of even that timeline. 

Baker Lake was a natural lake at first, whose level was elevated in the 1957 construction of the Upper Baker Dam.  Baker River is home to 5 varieties of salmon and 2 varieties of trout, all of which have been impacted over time by the dam. 

Washington State is the nation's largest producer of hydroelectric power, but at what cost? 

Edit: a day after posting this, I found an article about another dam in WA that has some stats on dam removal here.

Find it here