DamNation: The Problem with Hydropower | Patagonia Films 

4 years later and this is still one of my favourite documentaries - 3rd time watching!

Don’t mind me, this is for school. Edit: Wooo! For everyone who’s watching this for school, good luck! 3:08 Title 5:11 History Timeline starts 6:11 South Fork Dam Failure 9:24 Talk of dams in Yellowstone, Sierra Club, and Glenn Canyon 11:14 removal of Elwha and Olympic Park Dams 12:15 Kevin Yang interview 16:06 First Salmon Ceremony of Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe 19:35 Columbia River 31:30 Snake River 46:54 hatcheries 53:50 Glenn Canyon 1:02:06 environmental movements 1:22:16 the scissors

I keep coming back to this doc. I hope Patagonia can give these filmmakers a chance to make another film of this calibre.

I’m a licensed professional engineer that specializes in dams. This was a very well made documentary. I especially felt sympathetic for cultures who were connected to a free flowing river. However, I would like to point out for discussion, that hydropower is not the only benefit of a dam. They provide drinking water for millions. Perhaps more importantly, they control floods. By impounding water and letting it out at a controlled rate dams saves lives. No question that dams inhibit the migration of fish species. This is despite our best efforts to mitigate the issue. Earnest trying to meet both sides of the issue. I am gratefully a public servant, and will continue to engineer dams to the best of my ability based on what the public I serve desires. I just wanted to give another point of view other than “hydropower vs. salmon or other migratory fish”. Dams do so much more than providing hydropower.

No one will probably read this but this video was awesome. It made me feel every emotion, I learned more about dam removal, filming and editing and motivated me. Thank you

I work for Save Our Wild Salmon in eastern Washington, working with stakeholders and community leaders to support removal of the four lower Snake River dams to restore wild salmon and steelhead. So grateful to the fantastic film-makers and Patagonia for creating this funny, poignant, heartbreaking, spot on film.

I’m glad people realize that all clean energy sources have environmental costs but we need more than just wind and solar guys. Nuclear and hydro are really powerful backbone sources that solar and wind can’t come close to touching. We may have to sacrifice a few watersheds.

These documentaries are sobering and mesmerizing. They make me contemplate my role in saving what we have left of our awesome natural resources. I wish all students could see these.

Good film an message, I think we all agree on sustaining the natural habitats for these fish and other wildlife. It is a challenging problem with modern development, and a worthy cause. My only criticism of the film is that it's not as simple as replacing existing (hydroelectric) generators with wind turbines. To put it simply, the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine. People say they do not care about electricity, but here we are able to consume this content that is made possible by hydroelectric, coal fired, gas fired, oil fired, and nuclear powered energy sources. I felt compelled to state this because so many people seem to only see the problem from one side, and as a society we need to grapple the totality of what we are dealing with to solve the problems.

The whole documentary is wonderful, but the Katie Lee/Glen Canyon segment (53:49) brought tears to my eyes. The combination of ancient indigenous and natural beauty, the feeling of fear and rapture in that sacred space, Katie Lee's own joie de vivre both then and now, the ache of realizing the magnitude of what was lost, all captured in stunning still and moving images and backed by a perfect soundscape ("Switzerland" by Daughter; amazing choice). Just beautiful filmmaking. Bravo.

I'm sure the natural gas industry loves your work

Love that this is finally free on a global platform. Such a fantastic film!!!

On 1:00:06: Simply, one of the best photograph that I've ever seen in my whole life. Thanks for show us the magnificence of Nature.

Very excited for this to come out. Patagonia films are world class and extremely motivational!

I have never thought about this and took all the dams for granted. What a fascinating, sobering and enthralling story, ten minutes in. I am getting a sense of good intentions about to go wrong, and must stick around to see where it leads. THANK YOU

This is my favorite documentary

And for folks who want to learn more about the history of dam building in America, I recommend the classic Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner. Read it it my 20s and it turned me into a river advocate.

From taking down dams in Oregon to preventing their construction in Alaska. Leave it to Patagonia to join is in the good fight against Big Hydro.

I really wish you guys would do a documentary like this and "Artifishal" on the fight to save the Everglades and Florida Bay.

I was rather appreciative of your inclusion of an opposing view in the form of the hydropower operator of the dam being deconstructed at the onset of the documentary. The gentleman seemed to be the only credible advocate for the continuation of hydropower in your documentary. I think that many dams will likely still be needed. But clearly many such as those on the Snake River are not necessary, even truly detrimental. And, thanks for making me laugh! Brilliant protest!

I love how Patagonia shows both sides of the problem. That’s smart.

In Denmark er remove a lot of small old dams, but we still have the biggest one that extinct the Atlantic Salmon 90 years ago in Denmark's longest river. 3 Vestas windmills could replace the powerplant. The argument is that a few rich people live with a view over the lake. Think of having a wonderful river in your backyard full og wild Salmon - maybe at least as beautyful... Now we only have the imagination of a wild flowing river. One Day ... That film was so interesting and full og Hope. Thank you from little Denmark.

Humanity has no business, nor the right, to build any dam, anywhere. Great film.

Thank you for sharing this well informed documentary. Long live Mother Nature

Thank you very much for this great doc!!! May all humans realize the importance of free-flowing rivers and help restoring them!

so much thoughtful discussion, gives hope that working and fighting for the good of the whole earth must be the goal.

A magical place to be sure.

This is going to sit with me for a long time. I live in the Pacific Northwest and simply can't look at Dam's the same. An incredible documentary that more need to see.

One of the most powerful environmental movie of the past decade..

"This is federal, this is their river" That sums up how "our" government feels about us and the countries resources. One of the saddest films i've ever viewed, Thanks Patagonia for making this film.

Watched this for a university course. Originally procrastinated a lot. I’m glad I watched it.

Born in the early 1950's & Grew up in Southern California, as a kid i got a job a a bait-boy in Newport Harbor. In a few short years i watched the bait fish known as anchovies become very scarce and expensive, A net full or full scoop of bait was about $1.25, and half scoop .75 cents. By the time i was 14 years old a scoop was $5-$7. Eventually i got my dream job as a deckhand on a sport fishing boat fishing out off the Channel islands, in 2 short years i saw people who once brought home gunny sacks full of fish from a half or full day boat to maybe catching 1 or 2 edible fish on a good day, they would still catch lots of mackeral which they would keep for pet food or bury in their gardens to fertilize trees and such. Fish were becoming scarce, so i gave that career up and became a cook & then a chef, a job i could travel to resorts and work, with my new past time becoming fly fishing in fresh water, something i did as a kid in the High Sierras on summer vacations I remember my grandmother telling me about catching Salmon on Malibu creek just north of Los Angeles and that Redwood trees once grew along the coast there when she was a kid back in 1900. I fly fished and traveled throughout the west working in the resorts & restraunt business, Then by 1973 i realized nearly everywhere i went was fast becoming fished out, I had a revelation & I quit eating Seafood and Salmon as well as Trout & freshwater fish altogether. A hard thing to do after being raised on fish, diving for and eating fresh lobster & abalone since i was a kid. Frying that fresh caught trout next to the creek at Yosemite, or catching little golden trout In the Sequoia Wilderness in the early 1960's. I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii in 1974 and was reborn, literally lived off the sea for 4 years, worked on Kona sport fishing "trophy boats" whenever i needed a little spending money, but for the most part i just enjoyed living off the sea, camping on the beach, like being in paradise, and then i experienced the same thing happening over there. Shellfish and shore caught fish were becoming exploited & getting more and more scarce, the trophy boats were bringing in less and less, smaller and smaller fish, which not long before no respectable sportsman would consider keeping or eating,( an early form of catch and release consciousness) and with many days being skunked with nothing being caught, The icehouse where sport fisherman had fish weighed, cleaned and stored for the sportsmen customers were becoming just ice houses with very few fish, maybe 1/4 full on the best of days, so again, the writing was on the wall, And i quit that sporting life and eating fish altogether. That time for good . Getting used to eating hamburgers, deli sandwhiches and pizza was a very tough go. I still cringe when i see a hamburger or have to eat one out of respect or courtesy to my host at a BBQ,( i refuse to eat hot dogs) instead of having a nice cut of prime beef , wild game or a nice filet, Even though i worked in high end resort kitchens most of my life, by the time i was 40 ( 30++ years ago) i demoted myself from being a resort chef/ sous chef to working in small resort town greasy spoon cafes as a cook or hash slinger. Preferring breakfast cook as i did not have to cook fish or hamburgers. Just Bacon & sausages, which was bad enough form of payback, as i find pork totally discusting as an edible food source. Hang around enough Obese Bacon eating, beer swilling, bait and barb hooked fishermen in life, only reinforced my bias attitude towards many of todays overfed sportsmen.. My beloved 100 year old hand wrapped Scottish fly rod heirloom still sits broken in it's original cardboard case, the last fish it ever caught was a smaller 30 pound saltwater Tarpon in Florida, which broke the pole.

Got sucked into this documentary again and if i've commented on it in the past im sure it had to be positive. Lee is a true hero along with everyone else involved in the making of this great documentary film. Bravo! Thank you!

seeing the dam side of the river turn green is so rewarding

Powerful documentary!! Lets unite, innovate and create solutions under the creator who showed all people how to care for Mother Earth. Ancient traditional teachings that must be upheld for all people/living creatures/ plants.

Brilliant! Honoring our natural habitat makes us all richer.

Superb documentary. These people have real courage. They are willing to sacrifice their lives to make a difference. As was said by Edward Abby, "Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul."

I was assigned to watch this for one of my Geography college courses and I'm really glad. This documentary was one of the best I've ever seen and shined a lot of light on a topic I've never thought about before

Very awesome video y'all!

Wow this is so awesome, they have been taking out a 250 yr old mill dam next to my house. So many are upset but from what I can tell it’s because it is something of comfort cause they grew up with it. I am glad to see an unused dam go, why maintain something that isn’t being used.. and since a boy I have always wanted to see the Native America before settlers came, so this to me is monumental to happen in my life and to a dam right next to my house, I get to witness Temple streams freedom and rebirth. I wish I got involved as a younger man but still glad some others answered the tug on their heart to make a difference instead of contributing too it.

Dear Patagonia, please do a documentary on the drying up basin of the Murray Darling in Australia due to greedy corporations building dams and forcing farmers to buy water when theyre deaperate

Beautifully done! Keep on being a steward to our rivers and its ecosystem.

Glad this is available to watch on RU-vid. Thank you!

What an incredible piece of work!! I will never think of Dams the same way again.

this is the most impactful documentary i've ever seen

Now this . . . this is powerful! As an ichthyology enthusiast, I've never found such a deep expression of the wounds dams give to our mother earth. Thank you.

Nice message, thanks Yvon & company

Clicked on this randomly on a Friday night. Couldn't stop watching. Exceptional. Thank you!

Can we get this on Netflix and other platforms to get it to more people?

This was excellent. Hats off to all those trying to make a difference in dam removal and salmon recovery.

Loved this!

Best documentary of the year. Thank you !

Wow. Thank you for producing such videos. Although I am deeply familiar with the issue being a avid fisherman, this is the way to teach the masses. God Bless.

Absolutely fantastic, thank you for sharing this resource.

This is an exceptional production. Incredibly well done, and relays the importance of river ecosystem restoration and preservation. I'll never think of dams the same again.

Some of the best youtube videos are seeing these destroyed and watching nature do its thing, thanks Patagonia!

The problem is the continual demand for more and more electrical power and nobody questioning where the electricity is coming from.People take it for granted and don't see the dam or huge power station at the other end of their electrical wire.

Thank you to Ben and the whole team for this amazing Docie.... So needed. So powerfull.

This is one of the most powerful and truthful documentaries I have ever watched , I THANK YOU AND THE PARTICIPANCE AND THEIR ACTIONS and for having the BALLS to make such a great eye opener, WELL DONE TO YOU ALL .

So good. Definitely worth a watch 🙏🏻

I love your documentaries, thank you for shedding light to protect Mother Nature

"we don't have to do anything for them except leave them alone" What a great documentary 👍

Excellent. If I wish, I wish I were such things restoring America to its pristine past. Thanks to all of those who made this video possible.

Absolutely brilliant well done 👍 thanks for the film good job

Thank you for that inspirational story! I really like that you do highlight that there are some dams that we need but most of them are just unnecessary.

Thanks for this beautiful film :) Here in Québec we're big producer of hydropower. We always think of hydro as being super clean, but it's good to have a healthy reminder of what the adverse effects can be. We just have to be smart about how we manage all this. The day we'll start taking into account the environmental cost of things, it will change the way we make business world. Merci beaucoup :) Cheers to everyone :)

The elders in Idaho speak of the salmon river so full of fish you could almost walk across the river on the backs of them. This documentary is fabulous.👍🏻

Fantastic film, many thanks for putting this out there.

Patagonia- through your youtube and incredibly powerful documentary’s, I have found so much respect for this company. I love how these documentary’s show all sides of the issue, and lead the viewer towards the most logical, and ethical opinion, without ever shoving it in their face. Thank you for these documentary’s I hope there will be more to come!

I bought this years ago. On DVD, and this quality is stunning! BEST HUGS FOR MAKING THIS PUBLIC (AVAILABLE)!

Patagonia >>>> This film on the Damnation in America is the most innovative representation of showing both sides of the Dam debate. I think that we all can agree that the Salmon are the highest priority in wild areas of our country Further construction of Damming our wild rivers should be halted to preserve native fish habitat. I am opposed to the Damming of the Susitna River in Alaska, this would be an environmental disaster for the fish and animals that inhabit this pristine area of Alaska. Thanks Matt Stoecker & Travis Rummel for producing such a phenomenal film that sears into our memories what is the right thing to do regarding the protection of our Wild and Scenic Riverways >>>>

Just watched this for my Recreation Planning class and loved every second! Can’t wait to dig deeper with my classmates tomorrow! Thanks Patagonia for the great film!

Like everything in life, the best outcome is achieved by a balance between both sides.

Fantastic work, Patagonia! It gives me hope for our world after seeing what you are doing and the projects your are producing. Keep it up!

Great Work - Save our World

Absolutely brilliant stuff.

Hey Patagonia, I'm so glad you made this documentary freely available on RU-vid. I already paid for it earlier because I loved seeing it on Netflix. please hire these guys to make more quality docs like this. If you do, I promise to go buy some more of your quality clothing even though it's a stretch on my budget.

The change on the Elwha has been amazing.

Excellent doco'. I'm much better informed and care a lot more now And the the ending... priceless. God bless her. What an angel she was too, her naked beauty was a perfect compliment to those amazing canyons. Bravo!!

Best documentary in years

I actually got caught up in Lee Spencer's story and romantically considered being a fish watch volunteer. It seems like a peaceful existence.

This is such an important documentary. People need to know more about the many mistakes that have brought us to where we are today,and not repeat them.😭❤️🌍✌️

Best documentary I have seen in a while Breach the Snake River Dams and all US Dams! 🦫🐠❤️

Thanks you for sharing this. Have not watched it since it was on Netflix when it first came out.

I want to say that this documentary has changed what I want to do in life, I live near Rocky Mountain National Park and what i've found is that if you go out and spend time in the wilderness you will come to love all these places that are being threatened by government leaders with the interest of companies behind them instead of the interest of the people. My only goal in life is to show how beautiful this land is and how it would be a crime against humanity and any god that exists to destroy it.

"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul." WOW!!! That is SO true!

Did anyone else notice the AWESOME beer save @ 1:26:10 during the credits? The perfect ending to a very important and well made film. Cheers!

An amazingly powerful story

Incredibly beautiful, informative, and thought-provoking documentary. Thank you for doing this.

Hey, Patagonia! Love, love, love the film! Truly inspiring. One thing: If you do indeed text "DAM" to the number listed, it says, "Tell Pres. Obama to crack down on deadbeat dams..." Time for an update! Much love.

I cannot believe this movie is free to watch on here. This is incredible.

Great show. Lots of great Folk. The dam builders too.

As Filmmaker, this is one film that, w.r.t everything - music, visuals, graphics, pace , and most importantly the story and the unbiased yet conservation-oriented approach - it is an aspirational level for me to achieve. Ive taken a cue out of it and a lot of content i produce is inspired by this film. Watched it in 2015, and keep coming back to it once every few months:)

Fish ladder, an engineering project a studious girl scout group can easily , with little oversight design and engineer fish ladders for most dams

I stay in Scotland. Every loch I have seen has a fishery on it. I loved this documentary!! Keep it coming and I will keep watching.

Great representation and showcase of how beautiful the North West is our country. Thank you.

Truly appreciate the fella who said it would be foolish to remove every dam, but equally foolish to not assess whether every damn still made good economic sense over the idiot who said “I choose fish over electricity”. It’s radicals from both ends of the spectrums that prevent us from having sensible conversations with one another where common progress can be made.

This was SO well done and unexpectedly emotional!! I want everyone to see this. Thank you so much ~ ~ ~

What a beautiful movie! Thank you for sharing!

"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul" I like these final words which encourages activism