WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2021) Democratic US Senator from Oregon, Ron Wyden, announced on Thursday legislation aimed at upgrading existing some hydroelectric dams and removing defunct ones, which would subsequently restore river systems.
"[The bill] would invest $21.1 billion to enhance the safety, grid resilience benefits and power generating capacity of America's dams and provide historic funding to remove dams that are no longer necessary," Wyden said in a press release.
Many dams that generate hydropower are aging and need upgrades to continue providing an essential baseload source of renewable energy. Hydropower is responsible for 6 percent of US electricity production and more than 90 percent of US electricity storage capacity, the release said.
The legislation would also target many of the nation's 90,000 dams, including about 6,000 so-called high-hazard dams that have poor, unsatisfactory or unknown safety ratings that without rehabilitation would pose a threat to human life if they fail, the release added.
In addition, dams that have outlived their useful life would be removed to help restore rivers to their natural state, according to the release.
The legislation, titled "The Twenty-First Century Dams Act," is cosponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Alex Padilla, Debbie Stabenow, Gary Peters, Kirsten Gillibrand and Michael Bennet, all Democrats.
A bipartisan version was introduced earlier in the House by Representatives Don Young, a Republican, and Annie Kuster, a Democrat.
