The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) just issued its final EIS on the Klamath River dam relicensing.

And guess what? They say it’s still cheaper to remove the four Klamath dams than it is to keep them (these are the same dams that are beating the crap out of the Klamath Salmon runs and commercial and sport fisheries).

From the Karuk tribe press release:

The document includes an economic analysis that shows that the removal of the lower four Klamath dams would save ratepayers $7 million dollars a year which will likely make it difficult for PacifiCorp to recover expenses from their customers. The FERC analysis showed that the dams would operate at a net loss of more than $20 million a year if relicensed.

PacifiCorp wants to retain the dams in spite of the Klamath salmon’s rapid march towards extinction (earning them an “Axis of Evil” label from the Trout Underground), and this will make it much harder for them to do so.

So… get rid of the damn things already. And then we’ll see the economic power of a healthy river. After all, the Trinity finally got some water put back into it, and now you can hardly find a place to park.

Imagine what happens if the Klamath comes back to even a shadow of its former salmon/steelhead runs…

See you at the dam removal party, Tom Chandler.