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Waterpower, power derived from the fall of water from a higher to a lower level, and extracted by means of waterwheels or hydraulic turbines (see Turbine). Waterpower is a natural resource, available wherever a sufficient volume of steady water flow exists. The de ....

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.... more cost-efficient steam-power plants made it obvious that only very large and costly hydroelectric installations could compete effectively, and that the federal government would have to assume a major share in their construction. Motivated by the search for the multiple use of water resources, including navigation, flood control, and irrigation, in addition to power production, the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, started government participation in large-scale waterpower development in 1933. Most major installations depend on a large water-storage reservoir upstream of the dam where water flow can be controlled and a nearly constant water lev ....