Thursday, July 20, 2006

Dam Busting

I've never understood the reasoning behind all the proposals to take down dams. They've been talking for years, if not decades, about taking down the Hetchy Ketchy Dam (username humboldtlib, password blogspot) over by Yosemite. They want to restore the Hetchy Ketchy Valley back to the Yosemite- like park it once was.

Hey, lakes are nice, too, and we do need the water.

I can see the concern of the dams on the Klamath, as they supposedly interfere with salmon migration. I was always under the impression that fish ladders were an integral part of dams, at least on rivers where migratory fish were a concern. I guess not, as I've read that PacifiCorp is balking at having to pay the costs of building ladders.

Still, we need the water. The fish ladders should be the option, whoever ends up paying for it. Besides, if the dams store water, they could release water during years of drought to keep the river high for the salmon. If the dams weren't there we wouldn't have that option.

This state needs all the water it can get. Desalination is an expensive option. Dams, and their associated lakes, have multiple uses. I don't see why we should be tearing them down. We should probably be building more of them.

8 Comments:

At 9:06 AM, Blogger samoasoftball said...

We need more well planned dam projects such as Ruth dam. Too many dams on the Klamath has caused an un natural problem. 10 billion dollars is a pretty big price tag for reversing Hetch Hetchy (not Ketchy)project. It may make room for more softball parks though.

 
At 9:26 AM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

I don't think they'll be putting softball parks in the Hetchy Ketchy, Richard.

 
At 11:40 AM, Blogger samoasoftball said...

The Hetch Hetchy studies that show that there will be enough drinking water to supply 2.4 million without the dam is speculative. Why take a risk when we have so many water issues in California especially in the valley? Looking back, it is too bad the Butler valley project was voted down locally. Water has always been a hot commodity all over California. We have an abundance here, why not take advantage of that natural resource. Fred: Aquasoftball maybe?

 
At 12:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read where a certain billionaire's butt dam burst after losing a large hand in a Monte Carlo casino. Is that on topic?

 
At 12:57 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

Yes, 12:08, off topic and innapropriate.

That Butler Valley Dam project was a big issue when I first moved here back in '73. If memory serves me correct, it even made it to the ballot. I believe I voted NO on it back then, despite being a newbie up here and not knowing much about anything at the time. Not sure how I'd vote on it now as I can't remember all the issues involved.

 
At 7:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

For cring out loud Fred show a little courage and remove stuff like posted by 12:08 PM.

It is *not* censorship to require decency on a public forum.

 
At 6:41 AM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

Oh, I don't see any reason to delete EVERY off- topic or indecent post. Seems to me those kind of comments speak for themselves, as far as where the commentor is coming from. Maybe it's a good idea to sometimes leave such comments up? Kinda shines some light on where some people are coming from.

 
At 4:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

here is something off topic you should be talking about:
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

 

Post a Comment

<< Home