Massive dams are much more than simply machines to generate electricity and store water. Freshwaters, because of a host of human assaults, but especially because of dams, are the most degraded of major ecosystems. Dams are the main reason why fully one-fifth of the world's freshwater fish are now either endangered or extinct. Very few of these people ever recovered from the ordeal, either economically or psychologically.
Dams kill people because they spread diseases such as malaria and because they break.
Silenced Rivers explains the history and politics of dam building worldwide and shows why large dams have become the most controversial of technologies. It describes the many technical, safety and economic problems which afflict the technology, the structure of the international dam-building industry, and the role played by international banks and aid agencies in promoting the technology in the South. Silenced Rivers also tells the story of the rapid growth of the international anti-dam movement. It stresses how replacing large dams with less destructive alternatives will depend upon the opening up of the dam industry's practices to public scrutiny. Some Damming Statistics Commendations for Silenced Rivers .