Introduction hydroelectric Power what is it?

HYDROPOWER -- FROM PAST TO PRESENT
By using water for power generation, people have worked with nature to achieve a better 
lifestyle. The mechanical power of falling water is an age-old tool. As early as the 1700's, 
Americans recognized the advantages of mechanical hydropower and used it extensively for 
milling and pumping. By the early 1900's, hydroelectric power accounted for more than 40 
percent of the Nation
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s supply of electricity. In the West and Pacific Northwest, hydropower 
provided about 75 percent of all the electricity consumed in the 1940's. With the increase in 
development of other forms of electric power generation, hydropower
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s percentage has slowly 
declined to about 10 percent. However, many activities today still depend on hydropower. 
Niagra Falls was the first of the American hydroelectric power sites developed for major 
generation and is still a source of electric power today. Power from such early plants was used 
initially for lighting, and when the electric motor came into being the demand for new electrical 
energy started its upward spiral. 
The Federal Government became involved in hydropower production because of its commitment 
to water resource management in the arid West. The waterfalls of the Reclamation dams make 
them significant producers of electricity. Hydroelectric power generation has long been an 
integral part of Reclamation
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s operations while it is actually a byproduct of water development.
In the early days, newly created projects lacked many of the modern conveniences, one of these 
being electrical power. This made it desirable to take advantage of the potential power source in 
water.
Powerplants were installed at the dam sites to carry on construction camp activities.
Hydropower was put to work lifting, moving and processing materials to build the dams and dig 
canals. Powerplants ran sawmills, concrete plants, cableways, giant shovels, and draglines.
Night operations were possible because of the lights fed by hydroelectric power. When 
construction was complete, hydropower drove pumps that provided drainage or conveyed water 
to lands at higher elevations than could be served by gravity-flow canals. 
Surplus power was sold to existing power distribution systems in the area. Local industries, 
towns, and farm consumers benefited from the low-cost electricity. Much of the construction 
and operating costs of dams and related facilities were paid for by this sale of surplus power, 
rather than by the water users alone. This proved to be a great savings to irrigators struggling to 
survive in the West. 
Reclamation
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s first hydroelectric powerplant was built to aid construction of the Theodore 
Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River about 75 miles northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. Small 
hydroelectric generators, installed prior to construction, provided energy for construction and for 
equipment to lift stone blocks into place. Surplus power was sold to the community, and citizens 
were quick to support expansion of the dam
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s hydroelectric capacity. A 4,500-kW powerplant 
was constructed and, in 1909, five generators were in operation, providing power to pump 
irrigation water and furnishing electricity to the Phoenix area. 

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Power development, a byproduct of water development, had a tremendous impact on the area
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s 
economy and living conditions. Power was sold to farms, cities, and industries. Wells pumped 
by electricity meant more irrigated land for agriculture, and pumping also lowered water tables 
in those areas with waterlogging and alkaline soil problems. By 1916, nine pumping plants were 
in operation irrigating more than 10,000 acres. In addition, Reclamation supplied all of the 
residential and commercial power needs of Phoenix. Cheap hydropower, in abundant supply, 
attracted industrial development as well. A private company was able to build a large smelter 
and mill nearby to process low-grade copper ore, using hydroelectric power. 
The Theodore Roosevelt Powerplant was one of the first large power facilities constructed by the 
Federal Government. Its capacity has since been increased from 4,500 kW to more than 36,000 
kW. 
Power, first developed for building Theodore Roosevelt Dam and for pumping irrigation water, 
also helped pay for construction, enhanced the lives of farmers and city dwellers, and attracted 
new industry to the Phoenix area. 
During World War I, Reclamation projects continued to provide water and hydroelectric power 
to Western farms and ranches. This helped feed and clothe the Nation, and the power revenues 
were a welcome source of income to the Federal Government.
The depression of the 1930's, coupled with widespread floods and drought in the West, spurred 
building of great multipurpose Reclamation projects such as Grand Coulee Dam on the 
Columbia River, Hoover Dam on the lower Colorado River, and the Central Valley Project in 
California. This was the 
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big dam
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period, and the low-cost hydropower produced by those 
dams had a profound effect on urban and industrial growth. 
World War II -- and the Nation
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s need for hydroelectric power soared. At the outbreak of the 
war, the Axis Nations had three times more available power than the United States. The demand 
for power was identified in this 1942 statement on 
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The War Program of the Department of the 
Interior
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: 
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