The Copco 1 Dam on the Klamath River. Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
When government and tribal leaders gathered in Salem earlier this year to sign the Klamath basin agreements, the talk was all about dam removal. ”Hasta la vista to the dams,” said California’s Governor Schwarzenegger.
But what Schwarzenegger, Governor Kulongoski and the others glossed over is that there is no agreement to remove dams on the Klamath River. There’s only an agreement to study the issue. A decision is a couple of years away.
And now we’re seeing what could be the first attempt to take advantage of that loophole.
According to the Siskiyou Daily, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors in California are now interested in seeing if fish passages could be built around the dams – instead of removing them. The paper says the Shasta Nation has been studying using existing creeks as part of a system to help fish migrate past the dams.
See Siskiyou Daily: Fish bypass alternative analysis underway
By the way, Siskiyou County is one of the governmental groups that signed the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement.
It’s way too early to know how far this will go. But you can’t blame environmental critics for saying, “We told you so.” Sean Stevens of Oregon Wild said back in February that this is only one of the loopholes that could wreck the agreement. Here’s a clip from our interview with him.
Video: Oregon Wild’s Sean Stevens On Dam Removal
Related Stories:
Klamath Hangover – Why Oregon Enviros Oppose The Deals
VIDEO: Highlights From Klamath Basin Signing Ceremony
“Hasta La Vista” Dams: Deals Signed To End Klamath Basin Water Wars
NOTE: Thanks to the Pacific Fishery Management Council for tweeting the original story.
[...] Rethinking Klamath River Dam Removal | Natural Oregon [...]
[...] Rethinking Klamath River Dam Removal | Natural Oregon [...]
[...] Rethinking Klamath River Dam Removal | Natural Oregon [...]
I would appreciate it if you could view the following videos to understand the reality of the proposed removal of hydroelectric dams to restore Salmon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPKmKxhGj4I 6.5 min Reality of the 2002 Salmon fish kill on the Klamath River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxWNxc2qo90 3 ½ min Impact on recreation after removal of the Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYAzsCUS8a4 10 min Impact of Savage Rapids Dam removal on homeowners and businesses.
Thank you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPKmKxhGj4I 6.5 min fishkill
Exellent video’s. Tells it all and removing the dams would devastate recreation, fishing, and overall enjoyment of the klamath River!Why remove something thats been working since the 20′s? Electicic power would have to be “Grided” in causing unknown rises in homeowners rates and the beauty of the Klanath would be lost not to mention the fire fighting capabilities. Without the dams fire fighting equiptment would need to be brought in from far away and any length of time when your house is about to explode into flames is too long! So leave the dams alone!
Mr. Battraw, why dam something that was working fine for thousands of years? Let the River flow.
Dr. Gierak, I don’t doubt that a meth dump would harm the salmon. What I do doubt is that something in that small of an area could by itself cause a fish kill of that size. In the youtube video you linked, it says that there is a POSSIBILITY that the meth dump CONTRIBUTED to the fish kill. Any harmful chemicals would have been more harmful due to a lack of water leading to an increase in concentration of said chemicals.