Copco #1 dam. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
###
Mike Belchik, senior fisheries biologist with the Yurok Tribe, joins Gang Green to give an update on the Klamath dam removal (spoiler: it’s on track to be completed by 2024!) and helps resolve a number of myths concerning the Klamath dams that you might see shared on social media.
To wit:
1. No, it won’t increase in-stream water temperature (dams do that);
2. No, it won’t result in severe flooding (these are hydroelectric dams, not flood control dams, and don’t operate to control flooding);
3. Yes, while there is a loss of power generation, that power generation is not very large (~170MW at full capacity, which hardly ever happens) and the power is not particularly low-carbon when you consider the methane produced by the reservoir behind the dams.
AUDIO:
CLICK TO MANAGE