cover photo: 1964 Flood – the iconic Klamath Bridge washed out in the flood
photo credit: Greg Rumney
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it…
If people on both sides of the Klamath Dams issue fail to learn from our recent experience, and older experiences, a catastrophic price will be paid.
There is no debate that the release of about 5-million metric yards of sediment from Iron Gate Dam…
6 Comments
After working on the Copco Project & J.C. Boyle Powerhouse for 25 years. I have good knowledge of what’s going to happen after the dams are removed. There will be NO Flood Control! When there was high run off we controlled the amount of flood water rise in the river. With the Dams gone there will be a Tsunami type wave coming down the river and it will take out everything in it’s path. And I hope to God I never see that happen!
I really can’t think of anyone to complain to, the damage is only beginning. Anything now is too little too late. The voters of Siskiyou County were ignored along with the accurate report of Dr. Paul Houser, the Interior Dept Hydrologist who was fired from the dept of Interior due to his refusal to say what the Dept wanted. History was ignored, remember the movie Erin Brokovich, this was about the toxin chromuim 6, groundwater contamination under the town of Hinkley in Southern CA. Which according to the water test on river water below Iron Gate to Klamathon tested at 171 times the maximum allowed by EPA standards. So, apparently we are going to have Hinkley on steroids, difference being instead of a town, we will pollute the entire Klamath River ecosystem and some of the Pacific Ocean yet to be determined. In all probability most of the sludge will be distributed along the river on its way to the ocean, but some will get there. In the meantime the entire river gets more contaminated. Yesterday I saw a video taken around Jenny Creek where Iron Gate lake used to be of many industrial backhoes digging up more sludge and dumping it into the “new”river to be washed away. And the damage continues. Hauling this stuff away would be hundreds of thousands of semi dump truck loads along with the problem of where to haul it to and resulting road destruction. So now we are learning how this $500 million dollar experiment is going. The results are yet to be determined, possibly decades from now. Begins to look like $500 million in cost pales to the actual destruction cost to the entire river ecosystem and surrounding personal costs to residents along the river. To say nothing of the loss of 5 to 7 megawatts of clean constant electric production, some flood control, along with a source of water during fire season, and the recreation the lakes provided. Not to mention the wildlife that will die from drinking the contaminated river water along with possible livestock loss. And the main reason for all of this The SALMON PROBLEM, SOLVED!!!! There are no salmon left in the system, nothing left to save, even the frey recently released, all 850.000 of them. In regard to William Simpson’s comments on the 1964 flood I lived in Eureka at that time. The area around Orick to Rio dell and east to Blue Lake was a huge island, Klamath River bridge, Eel River bridge at Rio Dell gone. Highways 299 and 36 closed by slides and slipouts. The only way out was by air or sea. Almost all of the towns in the Eel River canyon gone, washed away. This was the thousand year flood mentioned by Mr. Russo in his prior comment. The first time I have seen the damage to the Hwy 101 bridge. That was as far north that we could go. It took around 3 weeks for the water to go down enough to get some “Baily Bridges placed across the Eel river by Ferndale to open a southbound route. It is absolutely foolish to think it can’t happen again.
The movie Erin Brokovich is about the leukemia cluster toxinsremember the movie Erin Brokovich, this was about the toxin chromuim 6, groundwater contamination under the town of Hinkley in Southern CA. Which according to the water test on river water below Iron Gate to Klamathon tested at 171 times the maximum allowed by EPA standards. So, apparently we are going to have Hinkley on steroids, difference being instead of a town, we will pollute the entire Klamath River ecosystem (FALLON NEVADA ) LEUKEMIA CLUSTERS, WATER CONTAMINATION BOY GOT SICK. YES,
You know, nobody has brought up the subject of real estate loss. Value in all their comments.
Our real estate has gone Downhill from this point. The value of our properties. Is dropping at a slow rate?Some of us a faster Rate
. The reason for this decline in values is because of all the stench associated with taking out of Dam. And all of it’s contamination That will last for years to come.
The western Oregon Dams need dredging behind them not blown up! The sea lions are the majority issue for the salmon not the Columbia river dams. The sea lions are almost a one to one cause of the Salmon decline below the Bonneville Dam. Federal complaint 3:24CV00755JR and injunction filed in federal court to stop the destruction of the iron gate dam on the Klamath river in Oregon. These documents show EV’s are crashing the grid!
https://salmonprotectiondevice.com/
https://www.koin.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/712204312/lawsuit-filed-and-accepted-in-federal-court-to-stop-removal-of-the-klamath-river-dams-in-western-oregon/
Defendants did not write anything in the case against the complaint or injunction within the time allowed. Therefor the federal judge will most likely sign an injunction tomorrow.
My dad drove me and mom to see the aftermath of the 1964 Klamath flood. I was 11 years old. We moved to Brookings in 1962. I have never seen so much destruction. Mud and silt everywhere. Trees down, homes and buildings destroyed. The bridge was washed out. It was total devastation. I will never forget that sight