For more than a generation now, educated Nepalese have dreamed of abundant hydropower as a panacea for our poverty. Ever since someone calculated that Nepal's hydro-electricity potential is around 83,000 megawatts, that figure has been bandied about as a magic number that will ring in the millennium. In the decades since, more sober views have surfaced. The feasible electricity generation potential from our rivers and streams has been slashed to less than half that figure...editorial