Entirely updated in the light of the recent World Commission on Dams Report, and responding to it, this new edition of McCully's classic study shows why large dams have become such a controversial technology in both industrialized and developing countries.
Introduction - the end of the big dam era? the world commission on dams and beyond; the power and the water; rivers no more - the environmental effects of dams; temples of dooms - the human consequences of dams; when things fall apart - the technical failures of large dams; empty promises - the elusive benefits of large dams; paradise lost - dams and irrigation; the wise use of watersheds; energy - revolution or catastophe?; industry applies, man conforms - the political economy of damming; we will not move - the international anti-dam movement.
A superlative account of the plethora of problems with dams. --Tom Athanasiou, author of" Dived Planet"
"The best-researched, best-written account ever of what we have done to our rivers." --Catherine Caufield, author of "In the Rainforest"
"This book contains a powerful plea for the world to adopt a sane and restrained river policy for the next century." --Stewart L. Udall, US Secretary of the Interior, 1960-68