Removing Klamath River dams caused more harm than good

Don’t expect to see a salmon or a trout in the lower Klamath Rover for at least a quarter of a century, and probably closer to half a century. The best thing for the lower reaches of the Klamath River, in short term, would be to turn the Trinity River back into a tributary of the Klamath and quit sending Trinity River water south into California.

Reading back over some of the environmental comments that were made by “experts” before the dams were cut open, they predicted that the sediment load would be washed away within just a few years. Common sense says a century of sludge released from one dam downriver would be devastating; yet they released three times that much in less than a month, not counting the J.C. Boyle Dam and the mess it left in Topsy Reservoir and what it sent downstream into the cleaner waters in the next 11-mile stretch until it reached California.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to open one and see what happened, environmentally, before the turned all the crud loose from the other two.

I know there are hundreds of reports supporting removing the dams, but it’s conceivable that most of them were made up to support the issue; it’s doubtful there was ever a peer review (I am a peer equal to all of them, and no one asked me) from the general census of environmental experts, and it is a good bet, money-wise, that there was no physical historic background actually backing their theories. All of the Native Americans were duped by the environmental info they were given. My heart breaks for them. Klamath Consulting Service, Inc. worked for the Klamath Tribe over several years to improve fish habitat, and we had some good projects. (See the 314 Clean Lakes Project on Upper Klamath Lake, EPA, about 1982-83).

We are supposed to be stewards of God’s great earth, not “tree huggers” demanding things be left alone. If it was felt that those dams needed to be removed, why wasn’t just one opened, so that those with any sense could see what would really happen.

Opening all three within a very short time span, when no one really knew what would happen was totally unacceptable. I have read a lot of the reports predicting what would be the results, yet anyone with any sense at all would know they were made up stories, there was no scientific validity in much of anything supporting their predictions.

To me, there needs to be a class-action lawsuit filed through a really good lawyer by the states of Oregon and California, and the counties of Klamath, Siskiyou, Humboldt/Del Norte and any other county affected. It should also include the Agricultural Organizations, the Tribes who were totally duped, the fisheries folks, etc., against our federal government for being so stupid as to support the idiotic ideas (leave everything as it was) of the environmental extremists. There was never any way for those of us, and there are many, to make our feelings about this known to those who put the project through.

And the electric companies that charged their users money to remove the dams need to repay us back in cash and quit charging us more money for the dams’ removals.

Personally, I think the dams should be rebuilt, as top-of-the-line as can be done, with adequate fish ladders, and the ability to release water from below the surface, so it is colder and cleaner. They are still much-needed for irrigation and flood control (watch the Interstate-5 bridge over the river be overcome, next time there is a big storm), and they can provided much needed electricity without creating the havoc of unbelievably expensive windmills and solar panels, both of which are detrimental to land use and are environmentally hazardous, ruin the natural beauty of the land, and infringe on much needed farm land.