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Small Hydro May Harm Environment More Than Big Hydro, Study Finds

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Small dams may not be as environmentally benign as we had thought, according to new study by researchers at Oregon State University.

The study, which appeared in the journal Water Resources Research, investigated the impacts of a network of small dams in the Nu River system in China's Yunnan Province over a five-year period.

The key finding was that the cumulative damage caused by small dams is worse than that cause by large dams.

Several small dams (i.e, generating capacity of 50 megawatts or less) have been built in the Nu River's tributaries. There are 750,000 dams in China and about one new dam is built per day.

"The Kyoto Protocol, under Clean Development Mechanism, is funding the construction of some of these small hydroelectric projects, with the goal of creating renewable energy that's not based on fossil fuels," said Desiree Tullos, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering, in a press release.

"The energy may be renewable, but this research raises serious questions about whether or not the overall process is sustainable," Tullos said. "There is damage to streams, fisheries, wildlife, threatened species and communities . . . The result can be profound and unrecognized impacts."