😎 Largest dam removal in US history approved

[GOYABEAN]

🎣 The federal government is giving the greenlight to the largest dam removal in U.S. history, paving the way for unprecedented restoration of the Klamath River basin in California and Oregon.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given the final stamp of approval for four dams along the lower Klamath River to be removed, reinstating access to more than 300 miles of habitat for salmon and improving water quality. After years of talks, FERC said on Thursday that they "approve the surrender of the Lower Klamath Project license and the proposed removal of the four project developments [the dams]."

This comes after a decades-long push from river basin tribes whose livelihood and culture are intertwined with the river. The Yurok Tribe told ABC News that if the salmon disappear from the river - so do they as a people.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/largest-da...ry?id=93570345

[imashooter2]

So 4 reservoirs are going away? That doesn*t sound prudent for California. What am I missing?

[Daycrawler]

So 4 reservoirs are going away? That doesn*t sound prudent for California. What am I missing?

Think of the fish man, think of the fish!

[heatheroo]

dam!.....er damn!

[GunLawyer001]

So 4 reservoirs are going away? That doesn*t sound prudent for California. What am I missing?

The woke will happily cut their own throats if the Party demands it.

[Jhaydeno]

The woke will happily cut their own throats if the Party demands it.

They will be like a dandelion, spread far and wide by the wind to ruin the rest of the US landscape as we know it..

[GunLawyer001]

They will be like a dandelion, spread far and wide by the wind to ruin the rest of the US landscape as we know it..

Migrants fleeing a dustbowl state, seeking new lives . . . sounds like a book.

[Sandcut]

So 4 reservoirs are going away? That doesn*t sound prudent for California. What am I missing?

What you have is competing interests between the need for water and all that involved with that and the need for spawning grounds for the salmon fishing industry.

As I understand it, the dams in question are very old electrical generating plants, but produce a very small percentage of CA's electrical needs, so losing them won't be a loss, really. As for getting the water to where it's needed, the Klamath is on the border with Oregon to the north. Between the distance and the mountainous topography, piping the water to the drier southern part of the state would be an enormous expense because of the need for many, many pump stations to get the water over the mountains. Plus, taking water from one major drainage to another is seriously frowned on for many reasons.

Besides the environmental component to restoring this river to a free-flowing river, the main benefit to this would be to the fishing industry, both commercial and sport fishing. Yes, removing the dams will impact the lake communities surrounding the dams, but the tourist industry would easily adjust to accommodate salmon fishermen, once the fishery reestablishes itself, which could come fairly quickly (perhaps within 5 years of dam removal, depending on how many salmon fry they truck to the headwaters and release, which will then swim back once grown).

If you spend much time around the fishing industry, commercial fishermen are pretty hard-core conservationists, when it comes to protecting their livelihood.

[Walleye Hunter]

A little electricity goes a long way when you're out of it altogether, like Kalifornia is. But hey, I'm all in for it. As I see it, it's a wash dam/no dam (no pun intended) and I don't care either way.