Shock that the era of dams is over Mid-1990s

Shock that the era of dams is over Mid-1990s

In the mid-1990s, a statement by the head of the U.S. dam administration that "the era of dams is over" came as a strong shock to environmental policy makers and engineers in Japan. Until then, dams had been a symbol of a modern nation that simultaneously satisfied the needs for flood control, water utilization, and power generation, and were considered an indispensable device for supporting economic growth and national land development. Especially in Japan, from the postwar reconstruction period to the period of rapid economic growth, dam construction was linked to regional development and job creation, and was justified as the high road of public works.

In the U.S., however, these assumptions began to waver in the late 1980s. There was a growing sense of regret that the environmental costs of damming rivers had long been overlooked, such as the deterioration of water quality, loss of wetlands and flood plains, inhibition of fish migration, and destruction of indigenous peoples' livelihoods and cultures. Behind the comments was self-criticism of the government itself, which had only accumulated the benefits of dam construction and failed to adequately account for the negative impacts.

The person in charge said that the role of the administration had shifted from building new dams to restoring the broken nature. In fact, efforts had begun in the United States to remove aging dams and restore river ecosystems. The policy premise was becoming increasingly based on the recognition that dams were not permanent infrastructure, but rather entities whose role would end with the conditions of the times.

This statement resonated strongly in Japan in the mid-1990s, as faith in massive infrastructure was beginning to waver in the country. After the bursting of the bubble economy, the cost-effectiveness and environmental impact of public works projects were being questioned, and the meaning of development itself was being reconsidered. These words symbolized the atmosphere of the time as a warning to the very way of thinking that had unconditionally affirmed modernization and development.