I guess the system used in Norway, where almost all the electricity is generated by falling water, is pretty much the same as the one used in countries where electricity is mostly powered by rising steam. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.<br>Also, nice <i>Tech Dif</i> reference, Tom! =D,(reply>), Using Norway as an example for hydro is like using iceland to prove that geothermal power is the best.These countries have a very unique conditions that allow for such systems and they also have a small total consumption so there is no need for big volume of production,(reply>), @Dave Bell I'm Belgian, but Flanders has partly the same system in place as the Netherlands, with waterschappen (we call them wateringen and polders) who are less organised, but still quite ancient, and they're very interesting indeed, as some kind of public body and corporation in one. Yes, I believe the idea of the commons isn't dead. Thanks for the information on Laxton and the Lakeland Fells, I didn't know about them!,(reply>), Different technology to use the water, but the medieval world was full of watermills, and some of the earliest corporations were doing things to keep a balance between the mills and the barges on the rivers.<br><br>We know a lot more, but that ignorance doesn't mean our ancestors were stupid. The phrade "the tragedy of the commons" came from somebody who didn't know about the political systems which managed common land, and which survive in places such as the Lakeland Fells and Laxton.,(reply>), There is a lot to be said about small dams and using them as both power generation AND water management. The big massive projects from last century were effectively required because we lacked the control tech. But today? A five foot tall dam on river won't generate nearly as much power, but we have the control technology to spread dozens of those up and down an entire river system, or hundreds even, and have the bonus of being able to use them to control water flow on the entire watershed.<br><br>Or we can ignore such tech, continue to let people think river flood plains are a good spot to build their homes, and then not only feel bad when stuff floods but throw our hands up in the air and cry about how cruel nature is and how powerless we are to stop stuff like that...,(reply>), @Nillie I guessed so, but didn't know fo sure, so thanks for the information. The most iconic are of course dams like Hoover Dam or the Itaipu Dam, mega structures that make people think reservoirs will always cover entire cities and villages, which is rarely the case. I'm not a big fan of those big ones, they do tend to destroy entire valley eco-systems and displace often pretty big groups of people while being a bigger threat to lower situated cities when there's a dam failure. Building a string of smaller dams seems safer to me, and with less disruption to the environment and the landscape, while producing as much energy as one big dam.