Rotnguns
Lil-Rokslider
There's a matter of scale here that should be noted. The combined annualized power from the Klamath River Dams was about 169 Megawatts, compared to about a Gigawatt for the Snake River dams considered for breaching. Also important to note that the Snake River dam's are not being proposed for complete removal; rather, they would be breached.Recently came across articles and some youtube videos discussing the ongoing dam removal's on the Klamath River in Oregon and California. The goal is to increase salmon runs in the river.
I live in Idaho and the removal of the Snake River dam's is being discussed. So we may see this up here in a few years.
The controversy surrounding it doesn't seem to fit the typical 'left vs right' framework of most public discourse that permeates pretty much everything now. For example, I saw a group of protesters AGAINST dam removal carrying signs that say, "clean water is a human right". Whatever that means. Also, the arguments used against dam removal in the youtube videos I saw were that it was poisoning the water and killing wildlife. The advocates FOR dam removal were aguing the economics of maintaining ageing dams and that their planned lifespan was expiring, so why not remove them and restore salmon runs also? Who wants to stand in the way of progress?
I am all for dam removal in the northwest, if it will increase salmon runs, and IF electric generating capacity is replaced. What bothers me is that folks want to remove hydro, yet against all forms of electric generation. Also, salmon restoration is complicated. I am interested to see how this plays out in the next decade or so.
What are y'alls thoughts?