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Common sense on dams, water missing
Herald and News letter to the editor by Charles Romary, Klamath Falls 3/24/09
What happened to common sense? Emotions seem to drive politics. The lake is low so farmers may get water later. If the outflow from Klamath Lake had been cut by 5 percent maybe the lake would have the missing 1 foot of water.
Would the fish downstream have missed the 5 percent? What happens if the crops are late? Maybe higher prices? Then, we will have complaints of rising food prices.
We are told the dams on the Klamath River must be removed. Why? So the salmon can come back to Upper Klamath Lake.
What happens in a dry summer (future global warming) when the lake and dams have no storage and the river run dry? Salmon will surely suffer from the lack of cool water. Dam removals? Environmentalists want to cut carbon emissions. No coal or gas-fired electrical generation. Proposed removal of the dams on the Klamath River will hurt all of us. The farmers will have to pump water from the aquifer, which depletes the aquifer and takes electrical power. Guess who pays: All of us with higher food and electrical costs. And with dam removal, what about the Klamath Lake recreation and tourism, fishing, sailing, boating, water skiing, etc. The loss to the city and county will be enormous. All this to please a few special interest groups? Stop and think of all of the ramifications. Not for today but for ours and our children future.
Charles Romary
Klamath Falls