Dam owners would like us to believe that hydropower is a "clean" technology. The truth is that outdated dams hurt rivers.

Imagine that someone built a power plant that set your heater to 97 degrees year round, randomly cut off all of your water for hours or days on end, and placed a giant impassible wall through the center of your home, making it impossible for you to get to the kitchen or your bedroom.

Would you call this clean energy?

This is what a poorly-run hydropower dam does to a river. Hydropower plants can leave rivers completely dry, or worse, force them to alternate between drought and flood at an instant. They chop unlucky fish who wander into their turbines into sushi, and block migratory fish like salmon from reaching the habitat where they can find food or reproduce. They keep us from fishing, swimming, or boating on our rivers. They can even change the temperature and basic chemistry of the water, killing fish and wildlife. And that's just a partial list.

Many of America's hydropower dams were built in the early part of the 20th century, using 19th century technology. Many of these dams have never had to live up to modern environmental standards.

These dams are choking the life out of our rivers. And that's bad news for the people, local economies, and critters that need healthy rivers to survive and thrive.

Here's the good news: it's possible to have a healthy river without giving up valuable hydroelectric power.

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