Dam (review)

In recent years dams have attracted enormous attention because of the damage they cause to the natural and cultural landscape. Dam opponents decry the costs associated with large reservoirs, including inundation of fragile riparian ecosystems, disruption of the cyclical character of stream-flow, deprivation of water for downstream wetlands, blockage of fish migration, and displacement of people out of reservoir "take" zones (Three Gorges Dam in China forced the relocation of 1.3 million people). Oft times less acknowledged are the benefits provided by dams in terms of municipal water supply, hydroelectric power (Three Gorges has a generating capacity of more than 20,000 megawatts), flood control, navigation, and irrigation. In Dam, Trevor Turpin brings these latter attributes to the forefront as he seeks to explain why dams have been built and how they have assumed a cultural significance transcending their ability to impound water.

Turpin is a British professional long active in "water and environmental management," and much of his book focuses on British water projects of the past two centuries. But he does not ignore North America or the rest of the world as he divides his analysis into a series of chapters on dam designers and builders, the functional and symbolic character of dam projects, problems of environmental degradation, and the nature of dam failures. The most engaging chapter addresses the issue of beauty and the way that dams have been promoted—and perceived—as enhancing the environment. Such a perspective is, of course, anathema to anti-dam activists who see in dams nothing but the destruction of nature. While Turpin is no "Mr. Brightside" stressing only the good and none of the bad, he does a service in highlighting how water projects were frequently presented, and embraced, as improvements to the landscape. This is of no small import if we are to understand how dams came to play such a significant role in the modern world (and anyone believing that New York City could exist in its present state without connection to an extensive array of dams in the sub-urban/ rural hinterlands is living in a dream world).

Dam is a clearly written book that is accessible to both water resources specialists and general readers. More than 100 illustrations (many in color) give the book visual life and greatly enhance the written text. On the downside, there are more errors than should be considered acceptable, some minor (e.g., Big Bear Valley Dam in southern California was completed in 1911 not 1901; see caption, p. 91) and others more significant. This is especially true in the "Dam Failure" chapter where the South Fork Dam that collapsed by overtopping in 1889 (killing more than 2,000 people in the infamous Johnstown Flood) is described as being raised a meter in height prior to the failure (p. 150); in fact, the dam was lowered about two feet in the early 1880s to facilitate a wider wagon road. And by lowering the dam crest, the earth fill structure was rendered much more susceptible to failure by overtopping. Readers are also led to believe that the 1928 collapse of the St. Francis Dam in southern California (which killed more than 400 people) was caused by a geologic fault running through the west side of the dam site; in fact, it has long been recognized that failure was precipitated by water seeping into and through the broken schist forming the dam's east abutment. In addition, Turpin repeats the canard that the Katrina-induced levees failures in New Orleans in 2005 were caused by a Category 4 hurricane; in fact, the storm that hit the city itself was a much less powerful Category 2 storm (perhaps even less). This represents no minor quibble, as much of the most devastating flooding resulted from levees that failed at surge levels that never came close to overtopping.

Caveats aside, Dam is a good book that offers readers a highly engaging overview of how dams both serve society and exact a toll on humans and the...