Work has begun on the largest dam removal project in U.S. history

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.

  • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
    0·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • LexiconDexicon@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 year ago

      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

      • deranger@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 year ago

        This is a insane take. We absolutely need hydro power right now. It was the leading source of electricity before coal. More dams, please.

        • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
          4·
          1 year ago

          I don’t think @LexiconDexicon@lemmy.world 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

        • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 year ago

          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.