Despite the fact that it’s being supported by water-stealing, profit-hungry, river-killing vermin, the project to raise the Shasta Lake dam – flooding miles of the Upper Sacramento, McCloud and Pit Rivers in the process – continues to run its damaging, exploitive, never-ending-thirst-for-water course.

Damnit.


The object of my discontent. Raise Shasta Dam? Flood more rivers? Bloody hell.

I’ve invested several days trying to write this post, but always ended up with an article more likely to draw a visit from the police than change anyone’s mind about an absolute hummer of a project.

So I toned it down a little. What am I talking about?

The Fresno-based Westlands Water District — already the largest agricultural user of Northern California water — has spent nearly $35 million to purchase 3,000 acres of land on the McCloud River to make it easier to one day raise Shasta Dam.

You can read the whole, well-written article at: Land sale leads to worries over dam

Damnit.

For those who don’t know, there are plans afoot to raise Shasta Lake Dam from 6 to 18.5 feet, flooding significant parts of the rivers above the lake.

From a distance, it’s another example of a rural, economically disadvantaged area getting screwed for the benefit of another part of the state that can’t live within its liquid means.

Unfortunately, the closer you get, the uglier it looks.

It’s actually the story of a rural, economically disadvantaged area getting screwed by a bunch of people who are looking to profit (and profit heavily).

Damnit.

Anyone want to guess why the damned-and-going-to-hell Westlands Water District bought the Bollibokka fishing club – the exclusive, hugely private club on the lower seven miles of the McCloud?

Because they stand to make a ton of money.

You see, the Westlands Irrigation district is the environmentally unfriendly, Fresno-based irrigation district that already laps up the hugely federally subsidized water they’re receiving (at a tiny fraction of the cost of containing and shipping it).

Apparently, they’re not content to simply feed at that trough.

Damnit.

Westlands currently receives about 65% of the water allowed by its federal contract. If they can get more, they can sell it to urban entities at a huge fucking profit.

Isn’t that a wonderful, federally subsidized double dip? Plus:

“This purchase is a five-fer for Westlands,” said Barry Nelson, senior policy analyst for the NRDC. “It eliminates an opponent of the dam, heads off the tribe, blocks any development, the district will be bought out with public funds if the dam is raised, and they can use the fishing club to lobby for the project.”

It’s with that profit motive in mind they ponied up $35 million for the Bollibokka club. Everyone feeling warm and happy yet?

Damnit.

Distressing is Senator Diane Feinstein’s support of the project. While she’s usually good on environmental issues, she saw fit to couch this destruction of irreplaceable river habitat in environmentally “happy” terms.

“It is in California’s long-term interest to preserve the option of providing additional flood control, more cold water for the Sacramento River salmon fishery, more generation of electricity from clean hydropower and additional surface space at Shasta Dam,” Feinstein said.

It’s in California’s interest? It’s sure as hell not in the interest of my part of California, which once again will take a beating for someone else’s benefit.

Should anyone wish to communicate their displeasure with her support of the plan to raise Shasta Lake, please feel free to do so (in nice terms) by clicking on her e-mail link.

Damnit.

I look around my part of the world and see corporate interests descending on our water supplies, taking our water and returning little or nothing to the area.

Dannon has bottling plants all over the place, and yes, they make a lot of money selling bottled water.

The area residents? We enjoy the questionable benefits of a handful of low-wage jobs in their largely automated plants.

In that same vein, Nestle preys on McCloud, PacifiCorp fights to continue strangling the Klamath River, and now corporate agriculture (and water-hungry public entities) are going to flood our rivers.

In return, we get…

Damnit.

Fighting this project are the Winnemem Wintu tribe, who stand to see more of their tribal lands flooded.

And you have to admire their guts; they even declared war on the United States:

In the 1850s, there were some 14,000 Winnemem Wintu on the McCloud. By 1900, just 395 remained, according to Caleen Sisk-Franco, the tribe’s chief and spiritual leader. Tribal members who fought in World War II returned home in 1945 to find Shasta Dam completed and their old homes underwater.

In 2000, the Bureau of Reclamation first proposed raising the 602-foot tall dam by 6.5 to 18.5 feet, prompting the remaining Winnemem Wintu to declare war on the United States.

Damnit.

It’s being only a little dramatic to say it sometimes feels like the rest of the state is declaring war on us, but let’s look at the bright side.

I managed to make it all through this post without once threatening to buy a deer rifle and fix the situation more directly (for anyone from Homeland Security, this is not a threat).

Damnit.

[tags]shasta dam, shasta lake, upper sacramento river, mccloud river, pit river, raising shasta dam, water, environment, winnemem wintu[/tags]

Posted in Environment, Opinion.