Articles for Dam Removal

Maine dams face an uncertain future
1 month, 1 week ago

Maine dams face an uncertain future

Associated Press  

The Ellsworth Dam, nestled just upstream from the picturesque Union River Bridge in downtown Ellsworth, is easy to miss, the extent of its towering facade hidden from passing motorists by foliage and a bend in the river. The dozens of active hydroelectric dams in the state have long-dominated Maine’s renewable energy portfolio, before benchmarks for renewable energy were even set. …

Energy Electricity Renewable Energy Rivers State Maine Dam
‘A beautiful thing’: Klamath River salmon are spotted far upstream in Oregon after dam removal
2 months ago

‘A beautiful thing’: Klamath River salmon are spotted far upstream in Oregon after dam removal

LA Times  

Less than two months after the removal of dams restored a free-flowing Klamath River, salmon have made their way upstream to begin spawning and have been spotted in Oregon for the first time in more than a century. “That’s what we’ve prayed for.” Reed and other Indigenous leaders and activists spent decades campaigning for the dams to be removed, believing …

Fish California Oregon Dam River Dams Salmon
Klamath River dam removal brings hope for threatened salmon
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Klamath River dam removal brings hope for threatened salmon

LA Times  

Over the last month, salmon have gathered in clear pools in the Salmon River as they have returned to their spawning grounds. “We really need to build this population back before we lose it completely.” Biologists expect that with the dams now removed and the Klamath flowing freely, all types of native fish will benefit, including fall-run and spring-run Chinook …

Climate Change Population Water Fish California Dam River
Tribes celebrate the end of the largest dam removal project in US history
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Tribes celebrate the end of the largest dam removal project in US history

Hindustan Times  

The largest dam removal project in U.S. history was completed Wednesday, marking a major victory for tribes in the region who fought for decades to free hundreds of miles of the Klamath River near the California-Oregon border. Tribes celebrate the end of the largest dam removal project in US history Through protests, testimony and lawsuits, local tribes showcased the environmental …

Tribal Oregon Members Klamath Tribes Myers River Removal
As removal of dams frees Klamath River, California tribes see hope of saving salmon
3 months, 3 weeks ago

As removal of dams frees Klamath River, California tribes see hope of saving salmon

LA Times  

Excavators clawed at the remnants of Iron Gate Dam, clattering loudly as they unloaded tons of earth and rock into dump trucks. “The biggest thing for me, the significance of the dam removal project, is just hope — understanding that change can be made,” Brook M. Thompson, a Yurok Tribe member, said recently as she stood on a rocky bluff …

Water California Dam Tribe River Removal Dams
Flush with federal funds, dam removal advocates seize opportunity to open up rivers, restore habitat
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Flush with federal funds, dam removal advocates seize opportunity to open up rivers, restore habitat

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “The hellbender is kind of …

Water Fish North Carolina Water Quality Dam Million River
Federal infrastructure funding is fueling a push to remove dams and restore river habitat
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Federal infrastructure funding is fueling a push to remove dams and restore river habitat

Associated Press  

BOONE, N.C. — On the whooshing Watauga River, excavators claw at the remains of Shulls Mill Dam, pulling concrete apart piece by piece and gradually opening a waterway kept in check for nearly two centuries. Hannah Woodburn holds an eastern hellbender salamander near its cage where it will stay for 48 to 60 hours after relocation, on the Watauga River, …

Water North Carolina Water Quality 2024 Dam Near Boone
The Klamath River’s dams are being removed. Inside the effort to restore a scarred watershed
9 months ago

The Klamath River’s dams are being removed. Inside the effort to restore a scarred watershed

LA Times  

Near the California-Oregon border, reservoirs that once submerged valleys have been drained, revealing a stark landscape that had been underwater for generations. “I love seeing that sediment being pushed down, because that’s a river acting like a river,” Karuk Tribe activist Leaf Hillman said as demolition work on the Iron Gate Dam drained the reservoir behind him. Seeing the reservoirs …

Water California Oregon Seeds Dam River Dams
Why Europe is dismantling its dams
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Why Europe is dismantling its dams

BBC  

Why Europe is dismantling its dams Mikko Nikkinen / Storymakers 2021 The dismantling of Finland's Kangaskoski dam in 2021 Artificial barriers have long blocked Europe's waterways. Every time a dam was removed, salmon "embraced" the new part of the river, says Hanna Ollikainen, executive director of the South Karelian Recreation Area Foundation, a civil society organisation, which acquired the dams …

France Water Fish Finland Maine Dam European
Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history
1 year ago

Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history

Al Jazeera  

Four dams are being demolished along the Klamath River in northern California, as salmon populations plummet. “Dam removal is the largest single step that we can take to restore the Klamath River ecosystem,” McCovey told Al Jazeera. Fighting a ‘core American value’ Amy Cordalis, a Yurok Tribe member, fisherwoman and lawyer for the tribe, credits the “colonial mindset and racism” …

Water Fishing Fish California Dam River Removal
The largest dam removal in history stirs hopes of restoring California tribes’ way of life
1 year, 2 months ago

The largest dam removal in history stirs hopes of restoring California tribes’ way of life

LA Times  

At first, the dead floated downstream a few at a time. “The scale of this is enormous,” said Mark Bransom, CEO of the nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corp., which is overseeing dam removal and river restoration efforts. Several years ago, Bowers Cordalis also worked on the Yurok Tribe’s declaration of the river as a legal “person” under tribal law, a …

Life Fish California Oregon Dam Way Diaz
‘Momentous:' US advances largest dam demolition in history
2 years, 1 month ago

‘Momentous:' US advances largest dam demolition in history

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — U.S. regulators approved a plan Thursday to demolish four dams on a California river and open up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat that would be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the world when it goes forward. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s unanimous vote on the lower Klamath River dams is the last …

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4 California Dams Approved To Be Demolished, Letting Salmon Swim Free
2 years, 1 month ago

4 California Dams Approved To Be Demolished, Letting Salmon Swim Free

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING PORTLAND, Ore. — U.S. regulators approved a plan Thursday to demolish four dams on a California river and open up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat that would be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the world when it goes forward. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s unanimous vote on the lower Klamath River dams …

Oregon Vote River Dams Salmon Dam Removal Pacificorp
The largest dam demolition in history is approved for a Western river
2 years, 1 month ago

The largest dam demolition in history is approved for a Western river

NPR  

The largest dam demolition in history is approved for a Western river Enlarge this image toggle caption Gillian Flaccus/AP Gillian Flaccus/AP PORTLAND, Ore. — U.S. regulators approved a plan Thursday to demolish four dams on a California river and open up hundreds of miles of salmon habitat that would be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in the …

Demolition Oregon Dam Vote Dams Dam Removal Pacificorp
‘If the fish die, the people die’: Water wars in America’s West
3 years, 1 month ago

‘If the fish die, the people die’: Water wars in America’s West

Al Jazeera  

Why Indigenous activists in Oregon say racial injustice is at the root of regional water conflicts that have been intensifying with the climate crisis. “We have to hear the message that our fish are telling us.” The water wars Vast and shallow, Upper Klamath Lake once teemed with suckerfish that the Klamath Tribes subsisted on for millennia. “The tables turned, …

Water Farmers Fish Council West Oregon Indigenous People
Some green groups oppose lower Snake River dam removal plan
3 years, 8 months ago

Some green groups oppose lower Snake River dam removal plan

Associated Press  

BOISE, Idaho — A coalition of 17 environmental groups is speaking out against a key part of a sweeping plan to remove the lower Snake River dams to save salmon and steelhead. The groups said in a letter to Democratic senators in Oregon and Washington that the 35-year moratorium on fish- and dam-related lawsuits included in Idaho Republican Rep. Mike …

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Historic deal revives plan for largest US dam demolition
4 years, 1 month ago

Historic deal revives plan for largest US dam demolition

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — An agreement announced Tuesday paves the way for the largest dam demolition in U.S. history, a project that promises to reopen hundreds of miles of waterway along the Oregon-California border to salmon that are critical to tribes but have dwindled to almost nothing in recent years. If approved, the deal would revive plans to remove four massive …

Demolition California Oregon Project Dam Deal River