CA killed everything in the river removing the Klamath River Dam to save the salmon.

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‘Everything, every living mollusk, crawdad, turtle, fish, insect in and along the river is DEAD!’

By Katy Grimes, February 29, 2024 10:00 am

This is the third article in a series about the Klamath Dam Removal project in Siskiyou County: This is the First; This is the second.

In 2018, plans were released to destroy the Klamath River dam system by American Rivers, an environmental non-profit which claims “up to 85% of the dams in this country are unnecessary, harmful and even dangerous.” The removal of dams along the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, Northern California was sold as necessary to save salmon – specifically, “to restore habitat for endangered fish.”

The dams are part of the Klamath project, a series of seven dams built 1910 to 1920 in the Klamath Basin to bring electricity and agricultural water mitigation for Southern Oregon and Northern California, the Globe reported in 2020.

Emotions run high on both sides of the dam destruction issue. The Globe wants to know why the Klamath Dams are being removed, and who is behind it?

As Fox reported, “Newsom supports a 2016 agreement under which PacifiCorp would transfer its federal hydroelectric licenses for the dams to a nonprofit coalition, the Klamath River Renewal Corp., that was formed to oversee the demolition.

“PacifiCorp ratepayers in Oregon and California are contributing $200 million for the project but the plan allows the utility to avoid liability for additional costs. Another $250 million would come from a 2014 voter-approved California water bond.”

However, the 2014 voter-approved water bond was passed by voters to build more water storage in the state. The initiative was aimed at increasing the supply of clean, safe, and reliable water and “restoring habitat” – not the destruction of it.

According to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office:

The proposition provides a total of $7.5 billion in general obligation bonds for various water–related programs. Some of the larger allocations include $2.7 billion for water storage projects and $1.5 billion for watershed protection and restoration projects.

The original 2008 agreement for dam removal was between four parties—PacifiCorp, the federal government, California, and Oregon—to remove the four dams announced on November 13, 2008, according to “Historic’ dam removal decision,” reporting in the Mount Shasta Herald. “PacifiCorp ratepayers would fund part of the plan and the State of California would fund much of the remaining projected cost. Total cost would be around $800 million.”

It appears what Gov. Newsom did on his own was to commit California taxpayers to paying for the removal of the dams, while facilitating Warren Buffett’s PacifiCorps energy provider out of legal liability.

The Globe reported in 2020:

Governor Newsom’s appeal implored Buffett to back the demolition project to save the salmon populations that many Native American tribes in the area rely on. “The river is sick, and the Klamath Basin tribes are suffering,” said Newsom in his letter. “The Klamath dam removals are a shining example of what we can accomplish when we act according to our values.”

Feigning concern for the salmon and tribes, Newsom facilitated the destruction of one of California’s largest rivers and the draining of giant reservoirs. In his letter to Buffett, Newsom said dam destruction could also revive salmon populations for regional Native American tribes that rely on salmon fishing.

But did he have to kill thousands of fish to “save” the salmon?

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