What do you know about the water way out West? You might know a bit about the dams and water projects that have made cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and certainly Los Angeles possible. Well, all of that comes alive with this very unique Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary from the National Park Service. Created in partnerships with the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Conference of State...

Those who have traveled through the western United States can attest to the scale of the massive earth-moving projects that dominate aspects of the landscape. Massive dams and expansive irrigation systems are part of the work of the Bureau of Reclamation, the nation's largest supplier of water and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. This remarkable tour of some of these sites is part...

National Geographic's Dams Web site offers an interactive investigation into the good and bad impacts of dam construction. Visitors choose to view a river system before, during, or after a dam is built. Then at each time interval they can click on various sections of the river and read a short description of what is happening there. For example, after the dam is built, the reservoir that is...

Created in 1995, the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) was created in order to measure the effects of Glen Canyon Dam operations on natural and physical resources along the Colorado River. As such, the GCMRC's projects also monitor and examine the biological, cultural, and physical resources of the entire Colorado River ecosystem. The materials on their site are divided into five...

The United States Society on Dams (USSD) is a professional organization that promotes the advancement of dam engineering and technology, and fosters public awareness of the importance of dams. The best feature on the society's home page is its excellent introduction to dams and their benefits. First, a short definition of a dam is given, and then some reasons for their construction are outlined...

The Foundation for Water and Energy Education offers this informative guide to hydroelectric power. To begin with, users can tour a hydroelectric dam by clicking on successive systems shown in a diagram. This part of the guide is somewhat lacking in content, as it is mainly illustrations with little explanation. However, the rest of the guide is more illuminating. Other sections show users how...