Having run small hydro, 50 megawatts and down here in America and in British Columbia, the issue of dam removal is always very high on a small subset of the environmental justice community. Mind you it has nothing to do with species preservation or revitalization. It has to with harnessing overwhelming financial support from groups like Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited, USFW, US Forestry Service, NGO’s to achieve their ends, and the clowns at the state and federal who listen to the notion that dams once put in place for flood control, water management and hydroelectric power are no longer necessary, go right along. Nothing could be further from the truth, but facts are a funny thing. As experience with the species migration and restoration and the various methods used to achieve the goals set forth, (usually arbitrary in nature) it is very very dam and water shed specific as the AI response indicates. On the Sebasticook River a small tributary to the Kennebec River in central Maine, two small hydro stations placed fish lifts into service some 10 plus years ago. Both have had robust alewife or herring runs restored (Lobstermen like the free bait) but shad and salmon, especially salmon have not seen appreciable returns. What the dam removal people NEVER mention is the fact that local communities through their tax dollars must maintain the dam removal site. Surrendering a FERC hydro dam license is a long and expensive process and the requirements post dam removal are strict and in terms of remediation and maintenance of the project boundaries. They never tell the cities and towns that they are going to be on the hook forever and will bear the costs associated with much of the dam removal. They cynically use the indigenous First Nations and Native American Nations to further their goals, but in reality the indigenous peoples were low impact prior to the rivers being dammed, and when they had over stayed and played out one location, they simply moved up or downstream to a better location. The population numbers were very small and so easy to move. They were not “good stewards” rather low impact users of the natural resources the rivers provided.
Now these watermelons, (green on the outside, red on the inside) want to rip out major engineering projects that were and are marvels of engineering prowess. Think on it, some were engineered using long division and slide rules, and many built by hand and very hard labor. Without the Bonneville system and the electric power the system produced, the manufacturing juggernaut of WWII would have been a lot less capable.
This crowd of dam removal zealots leave a trailing wake of loss and destruction behind them every where they show up, when finished with one dam, or forest, or saved subspecies, they move on to their next project. Don’t think so, check the stewardship of the Pacific Northwest forests. Want to see how it is done head to Finland. The watermelons live the high life in gated communities, and sequester themselves in cocoons of self righteousness, and never see or care to see the damage that they do once they get their way. What should they? Uber delivers to the upper east side of Manhattan.
Having grown up in that area of the country (although my family did apples and cherries not wheat) the dam issue is very present and often spoken about. However, it wasn't that long ago when my dad, grandpa and even great-grandpa remembered when the snake was undammed and the environment along the river was drastically different. There is a great movie at the achieves of WSU that talk to farmers before and right after the first dams went in and the impact. The effects are night and day difference on the shoreline and the animals that inhabited that area natively.
However the part that most farmers struggle with in Washington and North and West Idaho is transportation of goods, the cost have only skyrocketed and if you can find a trucking company that will haul your goods from year to year your solid since most go under within 8 months of themselves. Famers have existed in that area of the world for generations without the dams and water is an issue regardless of where you go in the farming community.
As it stands now I work for the government and work in fish restoration (late spring into summer if the budget is there) and we have had far better success by changing out culverts and reducing the ejection pressure of water in areas that are fish bearing streams. However the fish ladder system is shoddy at best. Often the dams are dumping to much water for the fish to simply reach the accessways. We often recover migratory fish carcasses miles down from the main dam often in huge piles.
I am trying to get on for the work down on the two Columbia River dams that are trying to improve the fish passage system because Pacific Lamprey are unable to enter in sufficient numbers. Try fishing the Columbia up around Orondo or Stayman, you wont find much in the way of native run. The dams drastically effect the overall rate and availability of species to enter and access more of the river system. If the dams are to remain in place we need to do a better job of getting the fish into the accessways and letting them migrate up further. Also if your an angler go out and help kill Pikeminnow on the Columbia and other inland rivers. It does help the Salmon.
I looked up Earthjustice's financials. It has $171.5 million in revenue. They spend about half of that revenue on litigation (suing) and another $38 million on public relations. These guys are heavy hitters.
This dam removal stuff is maddening. All I hear from both sides are complaints and accusations. This creates an unneccesary rift that frustrates both sides and inflames public opinion. We should be talking about solutions, of which there are several.
I queried ChatGPT about such.
Here are the results:
estoring Fish Runs Around Dams
1. Fish Ladders (Fishways)
Success Level: Moderate to High
- Series of ascending pools allowing fish to swim past the dam.
- Works well for strong-swimming species like salmon and trout.
Examples: Bonneville Dam (Columbia River), Nimbus Hatchery (CA).
2. Fish Elevators or Lifts
Success Level: High
- Mechanically lifts fish over the dam.
Example: Holyoke Dam (MA), successful for shad migration.
3. Trap-and-Haul
Success Level: Moderate
- Fish are trapped and trucked or barged upstream.
Example: Snake River salmon transportation.
4. Dam Removal
Success Level: Very High
- Restores entire river system to natural flow.
Examples: Elwha River (WA), Penobscot River (ME) — major habitat and run recovery.
5. Nature-like Bypasses
Success Level: High (for small dams)
- Rock ramps and bypass channels mimic streams.
Examples: Mokelumne River (CA), Southern France applications.
6. Hatchery and Habitat Restoration
Success Level: Supportive
- Improves conditions after access is restored.
- Hatcheries supplement populations but must be carefully managed.
The query failed to mention the Baker river trap and haul method which fully restored.
In the Baker River trapped haul fishery restoration in Washington State, the primary fish species being transported are
sockeye salmon, coho salmon, and cutthroat trout.
Specifically:
Sockeye salmon are a major focus of the Baker River's trap-and-haul program, which aims to maintain their populations upstream of impassable dams. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, each year, sockeye returning to the lake are trapped below two dams on the lower Baker River before they are transported above these facilities.
Coho salmon are also collected and transported as part of this program.
Cutthroat trout are transported upstream and downstream to assist in the restoration efforts.
The trap-and-haul system involves collecting both adult fish returning to the Baker River and juvenile fish migrating downstream. These fish are then transported by specialized trucks equipped with water tanks to release sites either upstream or downstream of the dams, bypassing the dam barriers. This program has been in place since 1925 for adults and was later expanded to include juvenile fish. The aim is to support healthy populations of these migratory species in the Baker River basin.
These and possibly other ones should be fully explored by everyone involved before even thinking about dam removal.
And here I thought renewable energy was the high alter of environmental groups. You can’t be against everything. I am a fly fisherman but find this just crazy.
Do not conflate fish elevations with climate change! These are two entirely different issues & you show your ignorance & lack of research by including them both in the same sentence.
My wife and I are two of the 600,000 who will be affected if the Eel River Dams are removed. I hope the Trump administration takes over the Eel River Dams. Why can't we sue the NGOs for damages when the dams are removed, as they were on the Klamath River?
Having run small hydro, 50 megawatts and down here in America and in British Columbia, the issue of dam removal is always very high on a small subset of the environmental justice community. Mind you it has nothing to do with species preservation or revitalization. It has to with harnessing overwhelming financial support from groups like Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited, USFW, US Forestry Service, NGO’s to achieve their ends, and the clowns at the state and federal who listen to the notion that dams once put in place for flood control, water management and hydroelectric power are no longer necessary, go right along. Nothing could be further from the truth, but facts are a funny thing. As experience with the species migration and restoration and the various methods used to achieve the goals set forth, (usually arbitrary in nature) it is very very dam and water shed specific as the AI response indicates. On the Sebasticook River a small tributary to the Kennebec River in central Maine, two small hydro stations placed fish lifts into service some 10 plus years ago. Both have had robust alewife or herring runs restored (Lobstermen like the free bait) but shad and salmon, especially salmon have not seen appreciable returns. What the dam removal people NEVER mention is the fact that local communities through their tax dollars must maintain the dam removal site. Surrendering a FERC hydro dam license is a long and expensive process and the requirements post dam removal are strict and in terms of remediation and maintenance of the project boundaries. They never tell the cities and towns that they are going to be on the hook forever and will bear the costs associated with much of the dam removal. They cynically use the indigenous First Nations and Native American Nations to further their goals, but in reality the indigenous peoples were low impact prior to the rivers being dammed, and when they had over stayed and played out one location, they simply moved up or downstream to a better location. The population numbers were very small and so easy to move. They were not “good stewards” rather low impact users of the natural resources the rivers provided.
Now these watermelons, (green on the outside, red on the inside) want to rip out major engineering projects that were and are marvels of engineering prowess. Think on it, some were engineered using long division and slide rules, and many built by hand and very hard labor. Without the Bonneville system and the electric power the system produced, the manufacturing juggernaut of WWII would have been a lot less capable.
This crowd of dam removal zealots leave a trailing wake of loss and destruction behind them every where they show up, when finished with one dam, or forest, or saved subspecies, they move on to their next project. Don’t think so, check the stewardship of the Pacific Northwest forests. Want to see how it is done head to Finland. The watermelons live the high life in gated communities, and sequester themselves in cocoons of self righteousness, and never see or care to see the damage that they do once they get their way. What should they? Uber delivers to the upper east side of Manhattan.
Having grown up in that area of the country (although my family did apples and cherries not wheat) the dam issue is very present and often spoken about. However, it wasn't that long ago when my dad, grandpa and even great-grandpa remembered when the snake was undammed and the environment along the river was drastically different. There is a great movie at the achieves of WSU that talk to farmers before and right after the first dams went in and the impact. The effects are night and day difference on the shoreline and the animals that inhabited that area natively.
However the part that most farmers struggle with in Washington and North and West Idaho is transportation of goods, the cost have only skyrocketed and if you can find a trucking company that will haul your goods from year to year your solid since most go under within 8 months of themselves. Famers have existed in that area of the world for generations without the dams and water is an issue regardless of where you go in the farming community.
As it stands now I work for the government and work in fish restoration (late spring into summer if the budget is there) and we have had far better success by changing out culverts and reducing the ejection pressure of water in areas that are fish bearing streams. However the fish ladder system is shoddy at best. Often the dams are dumping to much water for the fish to simply reach the accessways. We often recover migratory fish carcasses miles down from the main dam often in huge piles.
I am trying to get on for the work down on the two Columbia River dams that are trying to improve the fish passage system because Pacific Lamprey are unable to enter in sufficient numbers. Try fishing the Columbia up around Orondo or Stayman, you wont find much in the way of native run. The dams drastically effect the overall rate and availability of species to enter and access more of the river system. If the dams are to remain in place we need to do a better job of getting the fish into the accessways and letting them migrate up further. Also if your an angler go out and help kill Pikeminnow on the Columbia and other inland rivers. It does help the Salmon.
I looked up Earthjustice's financials. It has $171.5 million in revenue. They spend about half of that revenue on litigation (suing) and another $38 million on public relations. These guys are heavy hitters.
This dam removal stuff is maddening. All I hear from both sides are complaints and accusations. This creates an unneccesary rift that frustrates both sides and inflames public opinion. We should be talking about solutions, of which there are several.
I queried ChatGPT about such.
Here are the results:
estoring Fish Runs Around Dams
1. Fish Ladders (Fishways)
Success Level: Moderate to High
- Series of ascending pools allowing fish to swim past the dam.
- Works well for strong-swimming species like salmon and trout.
Examples: Bonneville Dam (Columbia River), Nimbus Hatchery (CA).
2. Fish Elevators or Lifts
Success Level: High
- Mechanically lifts fish over the dam.
Example: Holyoke Dam (MA), successful for shad migration.
3. Trap-and-Haul
Success Level: Moderate
- Fish are trapped and trucked or barged upstream.
Example: Snake River salmon transportation.
4. Dam Removal
Success Level: Very High
- Restores entire river system to natural flow.
Examples: Elwha River (WA), Penobscot River (ME) — major habitat and run recovery.
5. Nature-like Bypasses
Success Level: High (for small dams)
- Rock ramps and bypass channels mimic streams.
Examples: Mokelumne River (CA), Southern France applications.
6. Hatchery and Habitat Restoration
Success Level: Supportive
- Improves conditions after access is restored.
- Hatcheries supplement populations but must be carefully managed.
Summary Table
Method | Best For | Success Level | Notes
----------------------|-----------------|---------------|-------------------------------
Fish Ladders | Salmon, trout | Moderate–High | Needs fine-tuned design
Fish Elevators | Shad, salmon | High | Mechanical but effective
Trap-and-Haul | Salmon, eels | Moderate | Labor-intensive
Dam Removal | All fish | Very High | Restores entire ecosystem
Nature-like Bypasses | Multiple species| High | Good for smaller dams
Hatchery + Habitat | Supporting role | Variable | Enhances recovery post-access
The query failed to mention the Baker river trap and haul method which fully restored.
In the Baker River trapped haul fishery restoration in Washington State, the primary fish species being transported are
sockeye salmon, coho salmon, and cutthroat trout.
Specifically:
Sockeye salmon are a major focus of the Baker River's trap-and-haul program, which aims to maintain their populations upstream of impassable dams. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, each year, sockeye returning to the lake are trapped below two dams on the lower Baker River before they are transported above these facilities.
Coho salmon are also collected and transported as part of this program.
Cutthroat trout are transported upstream and downstream to assist in the restoration efforts.
The trap-and-haul system involves collecting both adult fish returning to the Baker River and juvenile fish migrating downstream. These fish are then transported by specialized trucks equipped with water tanks to release sites either upstream or downstream of the dams, bypassing the dam barriers. This program has been in place since 1925 for adults and was later expanded to include juvenile fish. The aim is to support healthy populations of these migratory species in the Baker River basin.
These and possibly other ones should be fully explored by everyone involved before even thinking about dam removal.
As always thank you for keeping us informed.
Excellent news!!!
But temporary.
"Yeah let's starve to death and go without electricity for the sake of a couple of fish..", said the most brainless idiots in the entire world.
And here I thought renewable energy was the high alter of environmental groups. You can’t be against everything. I am a fly fisherman but find this just crazy.
Do not conflate fish elevations with climate change! These are two entirely different issues & you show your ignorance & lack of research by including them both in the same sentence.
That is a quote from the Trump memorandum.
It addresses the two reasons these dams have been vilified.
Buck fiden go bone cancer 🌝
Good news! Bad news! And what we have keep pressing the Trump Administration on..
My wife and I are two of the 600,000 who will be affected if the Eel River Dams are removed. I hope the Trump administration takes over the Eel River Dams. Why can't we sue the NGOs for damages when the dams are removed, as they were on the Klamath River?
You sue me. I sue you.