Awaiting Klamath Dam removal [View All]

[nosmokes]

And the ordeal of the Klamath River saga continues it's tortuous journey to conclusion I'm in doubt that it will come to favorable end for the tribes in my lifetime, if ever.This was supposed to have been a done deal years ago, but even an inch forward is progress.

--###--

original-indian country

Awaiting Klamath Dam removal

By Shadi Rahimi, Today correspondent

Story Published: Dec 1, 2008

Story Updated: Dec 1, 2008
HOOPA, Calif. – One thing is clear after driving north through small towns and along winding mountain roads to reach the base of the Klamath River Basin. Its isolation has helped save it.

A century after European contact, the river region remains forested and is dominated by four tribes – the three largest in California: Hoopa, Yurok and Karuk, and the largest in Oregon, the Klamath. Most other California tribal regions have been overtaken and ravaged in comparison.

But although the lush basin appears pristine, it hasn’t been immune to interference. Today seven dams line the 263-mile Klamath River, some producing toxic algae in the still waters of reservoirs and all blocking salmon from reaching 350 miles of spawning grounds.

A glimmer of hope appeared in November when the Bush administration proposed a nonbinding agreement that would result in removal of the four lowest dams beginning in 2020 – which would be the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

The possibility comes after 100 years without salmon for Klamath tribes upriver.

~snip~
.
.
.
complete article here