{"id":271644,"date":"2023-08-05T16:24:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T14:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=271644"},"modified":"2023-08-05T16:24:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T14:24:22","slug":"left-coast-closes-the-dam-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=271644","title":{"rendered":"Left Coast Closes the Dam\u00a0Lights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Klamath River flows by the remaining pieces of the Copco 2 Dam after deconstruction in June 2023. Juliet Grable \/ JPR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Triumphal headlines like this report the Klamath River news\u00a0With one down, Klamath dam removal proceeds on schedule.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing the Copco 2 Dam takes deconstruction crews one step closer
to drawdowns of the remaining three reservoirs next January.<\/mark><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first of four hydroelectric dams along the Oregon-California border has been removed<\/strong>\u00a0from the main stem of the Klamath River. All that remains of the dam known as Copco 2 in Siskiyou County, California, is the headworks of a diversion tunnel adjacent to the now free-flowing river.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When complete, the overall\u00a0project will be the biggest dam removal in U.S. history<\/strong>\u00a0and will reopen 400 miles of fish habitat that was cut off for more than a century.\u00a0 Deconstruction activities on Copco 2 will continue until September. Getting this first dam out of the way takes deconstruction crews one step closer to\u00a0drawdowns of the remaining three reservoirs next January.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CBS News:\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The project, estimated at nearly $450 million,<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0would reshape the Klamath River and empty giant reservoirs, and could revive plummeting salmon populations by reopening habitat that has been blocked for more than a century.\u00a0 The proposal fits into a\u00a0trend in the U.S. toward dam demolition<\/strong>\u00a0as these infrastructure projects age and become less economically viable. More than\u00a01,700 dams have been dismantled nationwide since 2012.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The structures at the center of the\u00a0debate<\/strong>\u00a0are the\u00a0four southernmost dams in a string of six<\/strong>\u00a0constructed in southern Oregon and far northern California beginning in 1918. They were\u00a0built for power generation, and none has \u201cfish ladders,\u201d concrete chutes fish can pass through.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two dams to the north<\/strong>\u00a0are not targeted for demolition. They have\u00a0fish passage and are part of a massive irrigation system<\/strong>\u00a0that straddles the Oregon-California border and provides water to more than 300 square miles (777 square kilometers) of crops.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those farmers won\u2019t be directly affected but worry the demolition will set a precedent.<\/mark><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good for the Salmon and Indigenous Fishermen, but what about the Lost Power?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Congressmen LaMalfa and Bentz draw the practical implications of this action in their press release Klamath Dams are Engines of Energy and Economic Reliability<\/strong><\/a>   September 29, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A statement highlighting the importance of hydropower energy in the West
and opposing the removal of the four Klamath hydroelectric dams.<\/mark><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHydropower<\/strong>\u00a0is the oldest source of renewable energy in the United States and accounts for\u00a0nearly a third of total U.S. renewable electricity generation.<\/strong>\u00a0Hydroelectric dams play a\u00a0critical role in the resiliency of the West\u2019s electrical grid<\/strong>, the\u00a0preservation of our landscape<\/strong>, flood control, the creation of space for outdoor recreational activities, and many of these dams assist in the\u00a0delivery of water to farms<\/strong>\u00a0for agriculture production.\u00a0Hydropower is a win for the environment, domestic energy production, and economic development in rural areas.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why is hydropower under attack?<\/strong>\u00a0Because some outlier environmental groups have\u00a0claimed<\/strong>\u00a0that\u00a0dam removal is necessary for fish health<\/strong>,\u00a0even though<\/strong>\u00a0these\u00a0dams provide stored water for fish<\/strong>\u00a0in low water years\u00a0and<\/strong>\u00a0the needed\u00a0cold water for fish in hot summers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents in the Klamath Basin<\/strong>\u00a0in Southern Oregon and Northern California\u00a0know about this struggle<\/strong>\u00a0because of the proposed Klamath River dam removal \u2013 the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. For decades, PacifiCorp (the owner of the dams), local municipalities, tribes, agriculture producers, and\u00a0conservationists have gone back and forth arguing the benefits and drawbacks of the four Klamath Dams<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Copco #1, Copco #2, Iron Gate, and J.C. Boyle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dam removal advocates<\/strong>\u00a0claim the dams block salmon and steelhead spawning and rearing habitat in the Upper Basin, even though their\u00a0only science is a questionable Master\u2019s thesis.<\/strong>\u00a0These advocates have conveniently avoided discussions of\u00a0other factors<\/strong>\u00a0that have\u00a0caused salmon and steelhead populations to decline<\/strong>, such as overfishing, pollution from forest fires, a marginal population in a warm river, and disease.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They irresponsibly\u00a0ignore the immense amount of sediment behind each dam<\/strong>, and how releasing it will impact water quality and river health, including the years long\u00a0decimation of the very salmon runs they<\/strong>\u00a0claim to\u00a0want to protect.<\/strong>\u00a0Nor have they considered\u00a0how dam removal will affect other wildlife species<\/strong>\u00a0who reside near the river and in the reservoirs, such as Canada Geese, sandpipers, Western Pond Turtles, and crayfish. It is essential that the conversation regarding dam removal consider the big picture, how this action will affect the Basin\u2019s entire ecosystem and the people who live there, rather than\u00a0base solutions solely on hypothetical scenarios for salmon.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who support keeping the\u00a0dams<\/strong>\u00a0know the\u00a0true benefits<\/strong>\u00a0they bring to the area. The Klamath River Hydroelectric Project generates, annually,\u00a0enough low-cost, reliable power for 70,000 households.<\/strong>\u00a0The dams provide\u00a0good-paying, technical jobs<\/strong>\u00a0and are the\u00a0largest single private taxpayer in the county of Siskiyou.<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0reservoirs<\/strong>\u00a0created by each dam are\u00a0critical to the area\u2019s firefighting efforts<\/strong>, ground water recharge, pulse flows for clearing debris,\u00a0and flood control<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing hydroelectric dams from our energy grid will drive up energy costs,
decimate local jobs, and increase dependency on oil and natural gas
\u2013 something both California and Oregon have opposed.<\/mark><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proper and best position on these dams is crystal clear:\u00a0hydropower provides renewable, cheap energy to our power grid around the clock.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0unconscionable<\/strong>\u00a0that so-called\u00a0environmental advocates are forcing dam removals across the West<\/strong>\u00a0without the scientific evidence to back up their ideas, and no acknowledgement of the catastrophic consequences that could occur from these actions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the\u00a0Federal Energy Regulatory Commission advances the removal<\/strong>\u00a0of four dams on the Klamath, and elsewhere across the West,\u00a0we must continue the fight to protect these engines of energy and economic reliability.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The zero carbon juggernaut rumbles on, chewing up pieces of modern society\u2019s energy platform.\u00a0 Even dams are removed despite their essential baseload power stabilizing the grid, with no carbon emissions. Meanwhile, gas and coal supply infrastructure is constrained and allowed to decay, with no chance wind and solar will make up the difference in reliable affordable power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Removing the Copco 2 Dam takes deconstruction crews one step closer
\nto drawdowns of the remaining three reservoirs next January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":271657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818076,691818627,691821617,691821616,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-271644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-co2","9":"tag-hydropower","10":"tag-klamath-hydroelectric","11":"tag-klamath-river","12":"tag-net-zero","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Copco-2-PacificCorp-web.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-18Fm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":313039,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=313039","url_meta":{"origin":271644,"position":0},"title":"\u2018The River Is Essentially Dead\u2019: How Enviros\u2019 Push To Save Salmon Ended Up Killing \u2018Hundreds Of Thousands\u2019 Of Them","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/03\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A well-funded environmentalist group played a key role in the push to remove dams in the Pacific Northwest\u2019s Klamath River ahead of premature deaths of thousands of salmon.","rel":"","context":"In \"California\"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=california"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/001aa-Klamath-Overview.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/001aa-Klamath-Overview.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/001aa-Klamath-Overview.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/001aa-Klamath-Overview.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/001aa-Klamath-Overview.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":381115,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=381115","url_meta":{"origin":271644,"position":1},"title":"World re-embraces muscle energy and muscle cars","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, several stories emerged that show America has done an about-face on cars and energy. 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