The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border — a process that won’t conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives.
The demolition is part of a national movement to return the natural flow of the nation’s rivers and restore habitat for fish and the ecosystems that sustain other wildlife. More than 2,000 dams have been removed in the U.S. as of February, with the bulk of those having come down within the last 25 years, according to the advocacy group American Rivers.
The removal of four hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River is the movement’s greatest triumph and its greatest challenge. When demolition is completed by the end of next year, more than 400 miles (644 kilometers) of river will have opened for threatened species of fish and other wildlife. By comparison, the 65 dams removed in the U.S. last year combined to reconnect 430 miles (692 kilometers) of river.
This is great to see and hopefully will restore the lost salmon runs.
Yeah there’s really no need for so many dams anymore, they were built to power hydroelectric stations that are no longer needed so this is a good thing.
“Why not just let nature take its course? Well, nature didn’t take its course when dams got put in. We can’t pretend this gigantic change in the landscape has not happened and we can’t just ignore the fact that invasive species are a big problem in the west and in California,” said Dave Meurer, director of community affairs for Resource Environmental Solutions, the company leading the restoration project. “Our goal is to give nature a head start.”
Which is another really good point, sadly there’s a lot of invasive plant species that were unknowingly brought over by Europeans mostly for ornamental purposes which have had a devastating effects on native plant life
How is hydro power no longer needed?
I don’t think @[email protected] said hydropower is no longer needed. They just said there’s no need for so many dams anymore, and I think that’s correct in this case.
A lot of these older and extremely underpowered dams were built in important riverways. They decimated salmon runs but produced only small amounts of power in return. For a recent example, Elwha Dam removal in Washington State comes to mind. It and another dam produced only 38% of the electricity needed to operate one sawmill, but it killed salmon habitats. You can read a little about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwha_Dam
No clue why he would think that. Hydro power is the best source of carbon-free power. It’s also the only reasonable way to do grid-scale storage we have. Unless we see a huge build-out in nuclear, hydro-power will be required for the next century.
I have no clue either as you misread what I wrote. MicroWave is correct, that was my meaning.
It’s also the only reasonable way to do grid-scale storage we have.
That’s not true. There’s TONS of viable alternatives. ex:
Pumped storage hydro is exactly what I was talking about when I said hydro is the only reasonable way to do grid-scale storage we have.
Alternatives are being developed around the world, such as iron-air batteries
When your alternative is something that doesn’t exist yet, you are reinforcing my point that hydro is the only viable grid-scale storage tech we have right now.
What’s not well known is that dams also have a limited life – they silt up. They produce most hydro power when new, which declines as silt fills the dam, raising the bottom/lowering head.
There’s a great book I have somewhere, is it CADILLAC DESERT? about the big 20th century push to “tame nature” and dam every river to make it “produce”. Total folly.
This is a insane take. We absolutely need hydro power right now. It was the leading source of electricity before coal. More dams, please.
You can do hydropower without dams. Dams are incredibly destructive to ecosystems.
Do educate me.
It just seems like a huge waste of energy / resources to remove an existing dam than to remediate it somehow. I didn’t see any mention of if this generated power or how it’d be offset.
Not really an environmental win if this hydro power capacity was replaced by coal.
The restoration of this former reservoir is going to be an epic task of conservation with very interesting results. I’m sure extensive measurement and tracking will make this not only a useful scientific experiment but hopefully a prototype for future dam removals.
It would be so cool to view it live in action over time
I’ve been up there and spent time on two Rez’s and the Klamath river was so bad. The red algae and low levels were terrible for the salmon runs. The Yurok and Hoopa have relied on it forever and hate the dams.
Hydroelectric power was a dumb idea. Cool idea, but short sighted and reeked of manifest destiny.
I’m not sure how demolishing renewable energy sources is going to help protect the environment during a climate crisis.
For my two cents, demolish the last fossil fuel power plants in a country, and we can then start taking a look at hydroelectric dams to tear down for environmental concerns.
