Summary
The removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, completed in October 2023, is the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. The dams had blocked salmon migration, disrupted ecosystems, and worsened toxic algal blooms for over a century.
Decades of advocacy by tribal groups, environmentalists, and locals led to their removal, marking a significant environmental milestone. Early recovery signs include salmon returning to the upper basin for the first time in 60+ years.
The project also restored sacred lands to the Shasta Indian Nation and opened 400 miles of habitat for native species.
Challenges like sediment-clearing and climate impacts persist, but stakeholders celebrate it as a model for ecological renewal.
You’re the one being irrational.
The amount of hydroelectric power produced by those damns was negligible. All four combined produced less than 200MW, less than 2% of Pacificorp’s total generation capacity.
They’d only have to build 20 or 30 wind turbines to make up the difference, and that’d be far less damaging to the environment than leaving these dams up and probably cheaper than the maintenance they were past due on anyway.
One thing to consider is not power generation, but power storage. Hydroelectric dams are giant batteries.