<
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/17/1137442481/dam-demolition-klamath-river-california-federal-regulators-salmon>
"PORTLAND, Ore. — U.S. regulators approved a plan Thursday to demolish four
dams on a California river and open up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat that
would be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the world
when it goes forward.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's unanimous vote on the lower Klamath
River dams is the last major regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone for a
$500 million demolition proposal championed by Native American tribes and
environmentalists for years. The project would return the lower half of
California's second-largest river to a free-flowing state for the first time in
more than a century.
Native tribes that rely on the Klamath River and its salmon for their way of
life have been a driving force behind bringing the dams down in a wild and
remote area that spans the California and Oregon border. Barring any unforeseen
complications, Oregon, California and the entity formed to oversee the project
will accept the license transfer and could begin dam removal as early as this
summer, proponents said.
"The Klamath salmon are coming home," Yurok Chairman Joseph James said after
the vote. "The people have earned this victory and with it, we carry on our
sacred duty to the fish that have sustained our people since the beginning of
time."
The dams produce less than 2% of PacifiCorp's power generation — enough to
power about 70,000 homes — when they are running at full capacity, said Bob
Gravely, spokesperson for the utility. But they often run at a far lower
capacity because of low water in the river and other issues, and the agreement
that paved the way for Thursday's vote was ultimately a business decision, he
said."
Via
Future Crunch issue 192:
https://futurecrunch.com/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
