Country Brief (United States of America)

Water resource
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) had 75 hydro projects (20 720 MW, 77.4 TWh/year) at the end of September 1995. During 1998, it is continuing major hydropower rehabilitation work at nine projects. These include: Bonneville and The Dalles in (Oregon/Washington), thurmond (Georgia), Garrison (North Dakota), W.E George (Alabama/Georgia), Woodruff (Florida/Georgia), Buford (Georgia), Dardanelle (Arkansas) and Hartwell (Georgia). Additionally, USACE has variou construction projects under way to repair and modify dams or safety purpose.

The USA has about 75 200 dams more than 1.83 m (6 feet) high, of which 6356 are higher than 15 m (50 feet). The total water strong volume of all reservoirs is 1302 km3. Less than 3 per cent of dams in the USA are owned by the Federal Government. The greatest use of large dams is flood control.

Of the 6356 large dams, 1649 are principally for flood control, 1160 are for water supply, 899 are for recreation, and 612 are for hydropower. A total of 2179 large dams are multipurpose. A further 248 large dams have hydropower as a secondary function. The highest dams under construction are Seven Oaks (168 m high), Eastside reservoir(three dams, 87 m) and Portegues (82 m).

Hydropower development , Small hydro / Further outlook, <<Back