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Pros And Cons Of The W. A. C. Bennett Dam

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As Stephen Ambrose once said, “dams have harmed our wildlife and made rivers less useful for recreation.” The W. A. C. Bennett Dam is a hydroelectric dam that was built from 1961 - 1968 on the Peace River in the north of British Columbia. It combines with the Finlay, the Parsnip Rivers and feeds into feed into Williston Lake. The area around this dam consists of volcanic and non-volcanic igneous and metamorphosed mountains that were built by nature during the Paleozoic era. Though it has provided many economic benefits, the damaging social and ecological harms cannot be overlooked when they present themselves as threats to the sustainability of the surrounding area. Although this dam has provided benefits such as the opportunity of hydroelectric power and employment, the social harms involving the Aboriginal people and the residents in the area as well as the environmental impacts to the ecology of the area take precedent over materialistic …show more content…

A. C. Bennett Dam has always been the centre of many debates as to whether it is sustainable. While it does provide many economical benefits such as hydroelectric power and occupational opportunities, it requires an immense amount of maintenance as well as harming the surrounding area. Because of the advancements made in the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and the already permanent changes it has made to the surrounding areas, it is impractical to remove it, but there are other alternatives that could hopefully save the already diminishing ecology that is needed for our survival. The main alternative is to stop the formation and building of other dams such as the Site C dam in order to preserve the wildlife. With this method, the flora and fauna can remain, but the already made dams can provide the energy needed to power the province and the country. Though the Bennett Dam should not be fully supported, it is already implemented and has made it’s mark so, action must be taken to cease the construction of more

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