Posts tagged: klamath dam

Cheaper to Remove Klamath Dams Than Keep Them

May 5, 2011, by 6 comments

The California Public Utilities Commission ruled that it’s actually cheaper for Pacific Power and its ratepayers to remove the four Klamath Dams choking the life out of the Klamath’s salmon runs which block access to several hundred miles of spawning habitat — and do nasty things to the Klamath’s water quality to boot.

After retrofitting the aging dams, the CPUC noted they’d run at a $20 million annual net loss. (Details at the CalTrout site.)

I could go on and on about Siskiyou County’s willingness to hold its breath and stomp its feet over dam removal, but it’s a beautiful day outside (the first day of the year we’ve opened all the windows), and in that environment, political temper tantrums hold little allure.

They aren’t coming down anytime soon — and funding for the project is suddenly in question — but at least we’re heading in the right direction.

Save a Salmon. Eat a Dam.

Klamath Dams Should Go Says FERC. C’mon PacifiCorp — We’re Waiting

November 16, 2007, by 4 comments

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.