Klamath River Roundup: Dam Removal Advocates Pile On

Time for another Klamath River Update, that most journalistically incorrect style of post where I take potshots at PacifiCorp for pretending their salmon-extincting dams are environmentally friendly, cuddly slabs of concrete that people would embrace like Barney the Dinosaur if only they were painted purple.

When I last blogged this drama, PacifiCorp was attacking the numbers that suggested the dams were cheaper to remove than keep.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) fired back, saying its revised analysis suggested the gap between keeping and removing the dams was even larger than first imagined ($114 million).

Adding more fuel to the dam removal fire is a new lawsuit filed by the Klamath Riverkeeper alleging that discharges from the hatchery at the base of Iron Gate Dam violate the Clean Water Act.

It’s an interesting strategy; pile yet another water quality issue on PacifiCorp, adding to the already considerable pressure to remove the dams.

And in truth, there are significant amounts of toxins besieging the Klamath river, many of them due to agricultural runoff, algae blooms in the lakes, and yes, the fish hatchery.

Judge Rules Water for Fish Before Irrigation

Upper Klamath irrigators had filed a lawsuit, hoping to prevent a repeat of 2001, when water was used to support fish populations while their irrigation allotments went wanting.

A Federal appeals court recently ruled:

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld a ruling forcing a federal irrigation project to boost flows in the Klamath River to help threatened salmon even if it means shutting off water to farms.

The good news is that irrigators, native americans, commercial salmon fishers and environmental groups are coming to the table in an attempt to actually solve some of the problems instead of standing back and hurling legal molotov cocktails at each other.

The Other Klamath Dam

Here’s one we didn’t see coming; a group now wants the Dwinnell Reservoir (that’s Lake Shastina) cleaned up.

Located at river mile 40 on the Shasta River - a major tributary to the Klamath - the Shasta river was once filled with spring chinook salmon.

Here’s an interesting excerpt from their report:

In 2005 as part of developing a clean-up plan for the polluted Shasta River, the North Coast Water Quality Board commissioned a study of Dwinnell Reservoir. Water quality tests revealed a shallow reservoir which is highly polluted. High water temperature and high nutrients have combined to produce a reservoir subject to unhealthy algae blooms.Among algae species found in Dwinnell Reservoir is Anabaena flos-aquae, one of the most toxic strains of cyanobacteria, a type of blue-green algae. According to health advisories, Anabaena flos-aquae not only produces swimmers itch but is also both a hepatatoxin and a neurotoxin.

In fact, anatoxin-a found in Anabena flow-aquae is “an organic phosphate, similar in its action to synthetic organophosphate pesticides such as parathion and malathion. Anatoxin-a(s) is the only natural organophosphate known.” Parathion and Malathion are being phased out in the US and are already banned in many countries due to the threats they poses to human and environmental health.

This is not currently a burning issue, but it’s not hard to see some kind of cleanup becoming one in a few years.

Remember: Save a Salmon. Eat a Dam.

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