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"In their search for renewable electric power, China's engineers have been building mega-dams at a rate unmatched in human history. Many far larger than the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River - which is 221 meters high and capable of generating more than 2,000 megawatts of power - are being constructed on China's greatest rivers. Best known is the Three Gorges Dam, completed in 2008, which stretches a mile-and-a-half across the Yangtze and can generate ten times the hydropower of the Hoover Dam. Yet the Three Gorges is only a fraction of China's current dam programme. "

"From the iconic Hoover Dam of US to Mao's Three Gorges Dam in China and India's Sardar Sarovar, here is a selection of 12 mega dams of the world - but are they a boon or bane?"

"Authorities push forward plans for 314 metre-high dam on Dadu river which would affect rare plants and fish"

"Authorities push forward plans for 314 metre-high dam on Dadu river which would affect rare plants and fish"

"Construction of Grand Renaissance dam to continue despite Eygptian concerns over impact on water supply and farming"

"Plan to build 160 dams in the northeast may cut reliance on coal, but would damage wildlife and habitat, and the power generated won't benefit locals, critics say"

"Federal prosecutors say Norte Energia, the consortium building the $11bn dam, has violated agreed-to items that are endangering locals' means of survival"

"Africa's fourth-largest lake could drop by 20 metres, causing an ecological and human disaster to rival the shrinking of the Aral Sea in central Asia, if Ethiopia goes ahead with massive irrigation projects linked to a giant dam, according to a university paper."

Cost overruns, debt, inflation and harmful consequences make large dams very risky projects, says Oxford University report

"Within a week, India's ministry of environment and forest finds itself committed to conducting an overall impact assessment of dams in the rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra"

About 150 indigenous people are protesting a massive dam they say will dry up the river their livelihood depends on.

"Vast lake's water level expected to plunge to levels that predate the construction of the Hoover Dam"

"Conflict continues to rage in Iraq over control of the Mosul dam, which impounds 11 cubic kilometres of water and controls water levels and supplies across the country, writes Jonathan Bridge. It's not the first battle fought over control of water - and it's certainly not the last in a drying Middle East with fast-growing populations."

"More than 400 hydroelectric schemes are planned in the mountain region, which could be a disaster for the environment"