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2. OPPORTUNITIES AND CONFLICTS OF SMALL-SCALE HYDROELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT North America has always had an enormous potential for generating power from water, and many early manufacturing concerns were driven by water power. In America, during the 17th and 18th centuries, the power output of most water wheels was less than 8 ki lowatts (kW) each (Melone 1982). The first hydraulic turbines appeared in the period 1820-1840. As a result of improvements in dam, canal, and hydraulic machine technology, there was a large expansion in industry, especially in the Northeast. By 1870, the average power output from a waterwheel had increased to 17 kW (Malone 1982). By the 1880's, the use of water power to generate electricity was be- coming widespread. Many potential hydro sites, not economically feasible for mechanical power, became attractive. The power could be transmitted over relatively long distances with little loss of energy, and one station could supply a number of mills, eliminating the need for an elaborate net- work of canals (Malone 1982). Small-scale hydroelectric dams were soon common all over the northeastern United States, with many others in dif- ferent parts of the country. By 1930, most of the mi lls in New England either generated their own electricity or bought it from utilities. During the early 20th century, there were many SSH faci 1 ities bui lt in the far West along the western slope of Sierras. In the Southeast and West, many large-scale hydroelectric projects were built during the Great Depression as public works projects. Eventually, fossil fuel-powered steam generating plants became as economical as existing hydroelectric dams and more economical than devel- oping marginal sites. During this period (coinciding with the decline of the northeastern textile industry), many small and old hydro works in the eastern U.S. were abandoned. By the mid-20th century, fossil fuel and nuclear plants were producing relatively inexpensive electricity to supply the rapidly increasing demand for power. By 1978, hydro power made up only about 13% (or nearly 60 million kW) of the total electricity generated, and there were approximately 45,000 small dams in the United States that were not producing hydroelectric power (Heutter 1978). In the 1970's however, escalation in the cost of fossil fuels, supply uncertainties, higher building costs for new thermal electric generation plants, and increasing public concern about the safety of nuclear plants made alternative energy sources, including small-scale hydroelectric, appear much more attractive on economic, social, and environmental grounds. 5