A water based renewable energy system is shown which uses tidal flow and an associated water wheel/weir assembly to provide pumping power for the system. A water wheel powered pump and associated piping are used to raise water from a lower lake reservoir to a higher storage lake reservoir. The water which is pumped to the higher storage lake can be released to a generator located at a lower elevation and then returned to the lower storage lake. The cycle can then be repeated by again pumping water from the lower lake to the upper lake. The pumped storage provides flow and head to generate electric power through the turbine generator.