reduction of 25 percent in the U.S. hydropower production (Carless, Jennifer 1993). Conventional hydropower accounted for the largest portion of electrical production (71,533 megawatts) provided by renewable energy resources in the U.S. in 1991 (Carless, Jennifer 1993). Ten to 14 percent of the nation's electric generation is supplied by hydroelectric sources (Carless, Jennifer 1993). The global scale of hydropower production is much larger, with water sources providing more than one-fourth of the world's electricity (Carless, Jennifer 1993).
             The mechanical power of falling water is a tool passed down through the ages. The Ancient Greeks used it to turn water wheels that ground wheat into flour as well as milling and pumping operations over two thousand years ago (Bureau of Water Reclamation, 1999). The United States, however, did not make use of the technology until the mid-1800s and these projects were somewhat small (Carless, Jennifer 1993). Niagra Falls was the first major facility to be completed, and it was completed in 1878. This set the stage for the next few decades of power production and by the 1930s, hydropower comprised 40 percent of the nation's power supply (Carless, Jennifer 1993). Meanwhile construction of large dams was taking place in other countries, such as Russia and India. As the years passed, other energy sources revealed themselves as more prevalent, and the demand for hydroelectric power has slowly decreased. "In 1965 this amount had decreased to approximately 20 percent, and this d!
             ownward trend has continued to the present" (Carless, Jennifer 1993, p.58).
             Hydropower systems around the globe, through the 1970 s, were typically large-scale dams used to satisfy the national power grid (which is the overall electrical consumption of a nation) (Carless, Jennifer 1993). Today, the new hydroelectric plants are generally smaller, breaking the large-scale project trend set many decades beforehand. ...