Opinion

KLAMBLOG: Sediment from Klamath River Basin logging roads dwarfs sediment from dam removal.

by Falice Pace Views: 1076

publishers notes:
cover image by Jack Bulmer from Pixabay

Estimating the weight of wet silt requires a few considerations:

Density: Silt’s density varies depending on its composition, but we can assume a density range of roughly 120-130 pounds per cubic foot when wet.

Moisture Content: The amount of water in the silt significantly impacts its weight. Wet silt is heavier than dry silt.

Estimating Weight:

  • Lower End: Assuming a lower density of 120 pounds per cubic foot, a cubic yard (27 cubic feet) of wet silt would weigh around 3,240 pounds.
  • Higher End: With a higher density of 130 pounds per cubic foot, a cubic yard of wet silt could weigh approximately 3,510 pounds.

Important Note: These are estimates. The actual weight of a cubic yard of wet silt could be even higher if the silt is particularly saturated with water.

Resources for further information:

Multiplying 3240 pounds per yard by 7 million yards gives us a total weight of approximately 

 22.68 billion pounds.

much more than the:  according to a Forest Service research report, during the 1996-97 New Year storm event an estimated 1.3 million tons of sediment was released from the approximate 8,000 miles of unpaved logging roads on the Klamath National Forest alone.

Here’s a link to the post.
https://klamblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/sediment-from-klamath-river-basin.html

Below are a couple of quotes from the new post:

  • The Forest Service only has funding to maintain about 25% of its forest roads to its own standards. Sooner or later, unmaintained and poorly maintained unpaved roads release significant sediment to streams. That typically happens in large storm events.
  • Those tribal, state and federal leaders who claim they want to fix the Klamath must be made to understand that the only way to accomplish that task is to get rid of the forest roads which the Forest Service can’t afford to maintain and which bleed nuisance sediment into our streams during even moderate storm events.

Read the full post and leave a comment at this link.

Author: Falice PaceFelice was born on January 10, 1947 into a working class Italian Community in South Philadelphia. He holds a BA in Economics from Yale U., an MA in Education from Montclair State University and a life-time California teaching credential. He has worked as a teacher/educator, laborer, Outward Bound instructor, social services administrator and for Native American tribes. For fifteen years Felice worked for and led the Klamath Forest Alliance as Program Coordinator and Executive Director. Currently Felice engages as an independent Klamath River, Scott River, clean water and streamflow activist and pursues a number of writing projects. Felice blogs on Klamath River issues at www.KlamBlog.org.

One Comment

  1. Tracy Cohen
    March 11, 2024 at 6:45 pm  ·  Reply

    I’m sure this went over well. Everyone knows that the erosion of sediment from logging roads has been choking salmon streams for 30 years. That is why these roads are being decommissioned. DUH!

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