Things To Know:  Hydroelectricity is produced by water flowing through turbines or other impeller devices designed to harness the kinetic energy of water, as it attempts to reach sea level from higher elevations.  On average, it is the lowest cost renewable energy "per unit."  This advantage is a large reason that +/- 10% of the electricity consumed in the U.S. is generated at a dam.  Given the extreme regulatory hurdles associated with wetland development and other technical issues related to the remaining low flow/low head hydro sources, the DOE is forecasting this 10% will decline to 6% through the year 2020. http://eereweb.ee.doe.gov/windandhydro/hydro_potential.html  Seemingly, the conventional thinking may be that it will be perhaps more expedient and "economically viable" to expose ourselves to foreign energy politics and the potential of combat than it is to develop the remaining vast amounts of domestic hydro power. 

When one hears "experts" speak of hydropower as a source that has largely been tapped out, this is not the whole story.  The "low hanging fruit" massive generation sites are admittedly relatively tapped out; however, an additional 4,500 MW of new capacity could be added on to these existing hydro facilities.  Surprisingly, only three percent of approximately 75,000 U.S dam sites are currently producing any hydro power.  In total, an additional 73,000 MW of economically viable capacity remains available to the U.S. today, according to a recent study by the FERC.  A DOE study suggested this number is actually closer to 30,000 MW, but found that only 8,500 MW of this undeveloped capacity would require any new dam construction.  Even the environmental arguments against installing new hydro capacity are loosing traction due to technological improvements in facility design.  An excellent brochure on this fact can be read at the following web page: http://hydropower.inel.gov/hydrofacts/pdfs/01-ga50627-01-brochure.pdf. 

No Dams Necessary:   Please examin this "outside of the box" hydropower technology, which won't even require a dam:  http://www.hgenergy.com/,   http://www.verdantpower.com/initiatives/eastriver.html 

Hydro Electricity:  Medium to large hydroelectric manufacturing firms can be examined at the following websites:  http://www.gepower.com/businesses/ge_hydro/en/index.htm, http://www.newmillshydro.com/, http://www.nahydro.com/,

Older technology turbines were not well suited for the smaller dams; however, there have been numerous improvements in the design and prefabrication of the turbines to make them more suitable.  Numerous slow moving and small capacity streams and rivers await our turbines.  New technologies are making it possible to harness this source of power at ever increasing rates of efficiency, and with fewer and fewer eco-impacts.  The following are some companies and a few web sites that are involved in this industry:   http://www.canyonhydro.com/, http://www.harrishydro.com/, http://www.leffelcompany.com/start.htm, http://www.nmsu.edu/Research/tdi/public_html/pdf-resources/cc55.pdf, http://www.hydrowest.com/, http://www.itpower.co.uk/MMHC.htm, http://www.awesomesonsolar.com/Hydro.htm, http://www.waterturbine.com/