BESC 320 exam 2 with complete
solutions
lake mead - Answer --from colorado river
-Nevada, Arizona, Southern California and northern Mexico.
-About 96 percent of the water in Lake Mead is from melted snow that falls in Colorado,
Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming, officials said.
-The largest capacity reservoir in the United States
hoover dam - Answer --from colorado river
-built during depression
-provided sector (fed) provided jobs
-100 ppl died during construction
-historically low approx 1000ft less
-amount of power getting from dam is less because its being used for food,water etc...
septic systems - Answer -leach field
-aerobic septic
how much global energy is hydro - Answer -19%
Only 10% in US, accounting for 73% of renewable energy
hydroelectric generators in U.S. - Answer -around mountain ranges
-CA-pasifc mountain ranges
-east coast- follows mountain ranges
-mississippi has low gradient
-colorado has more gradient = large hydro plant found where there is a large gradient +
valleys= to make a reservoir.
natural lake in TX - Answer -caddo
how dams work - Answer --water flows into intake towers (like tunnels) at the end of the
tunnels (penstock) it hits a turbine which drives the generator which spins magnets
inside copper wire producing electricity to power lines and then to a substation
pressure is created by water going into turbine area
-conductive wire w/ something magnetic inbetween
-higher water head behind dam=more energy you can create
advantages to dams - Answer --reducing flooding by absorbing peak rain events
,-lakes in TX are impoundments (resivours)
• Tremendous power output
• Arguably, flood control
• Provide water reserves
• Provide recreation opportunities
problems with dams - Answer --fish can't get across, although some have fish ladders
-impedes migration
-flood control but some species NEED flood events to propagate
-the structure of habitat changes and some species have evolved with habitat it can
harm them
-everything is linked if salmon decline so do bears
-dams alter temp and some species are temp dependent
-solution?: release water from bottom (cooler) and not top?
o migratory species, upstream colonizations
o habitat loss of the inundation zone
o alters temperature regime
potential amelioration by hypolimnetic release
o altered flow dynamics (many species have particular requirements)
operators release water according to electricity needs
o alters sediment structure- need periodic flushing of sediment and some species rely
on certain sediment
o alters floodplain dynamics
• Interferes with people
o displaces indigenous peoples
o displaces landowners
• sedimentation- estuaries rely on stedy flow of sedement
• increased evaporative loss. high SA low flow
subsistence flow - Answer -lowest that can still support ecology
base flow - Answer -average under usual conditons
US water use per person - Answer -750000gal 5X more than global average
same amount of water on earth as dinosaurs myth b/c - Answer -processes that break
down water
-photosythesis
-refomed
largest dam in world - Answer -three gorges in china
-Yangze River
-17 turbines
-prodcues same energy an nuclear power plant
-completed in about 2003
, -displaced millions
-changed ecology
-obliterates many sites of cultural and archaeological interest.
-built in seismically active area
dams in the amazon - Answer --Peruvian andies: high elevation
-many dams that take advantage of the geology
-no dams in Venezuela or Columbia
-Venezuela (they have a lot of oil)
-brazil and puru have the most
sturgeon - Answer --30yrs old b4 become sex mature
-decline due to pollution and land conversion
-bad because they are large and a good resource
-three gorges cleaved habitat
-overfished
-facing extinction
-sustained by artificial breeding
-Gezhou Dam in 1981 blocked upstream migration of the Chinese sturgeon, reducing its
breeding ground from 350 miles of river to just four.
-The baiji, a white, largely blind, freshwater dolphin that was found only in the Yangtze,
was declared extinct in 2006. The last known baiji died in captivity in 2002.
small scale hydro - Answer -small scale hydro may be an important part of energy
security going into the future at all economic scales
dam removal washington state - Answer -Glines Canyon Dam and the Elwha Dam
-Olympic National Park
-Washington
-dams blocked salmon migration up the Elwha, devastating its fish and shellfish
dam removal - Answer --do it in phases so you don't dump sediment at once
-create salmon industry by putting baby salmon upstream they will remember the scent
and return 7yrs later
daylighting - Answer --bring stream back to surface
-get rid of storm water and potential for flooding by putting into pipes and barring.
snail genetics across flow control device - Answer --infrastructure like highways will
impact pop genetics
• Rob Dillon, College of Charleston, SC
• Assessed genetic diversity of snails in a river previous to road construction.
Road construction involved a concrete culvert.
• Re-assessed genetics a few years later and found marked structure above and below
the culvert; essentially two different populations.
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