Curly
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I agree with these writers.________________________________________ http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/10272006news71105.cfm
In Our View: Take Down Condit
Friday, October 27, 2006
Columbian editorial writers
White Salmon River dam should be removed. The dilemma is not unusual in environmental circles: Will the long-term benefit be worth the short-term harm? That's the difficult question facing experts who are studying PacifiCorp's proposal to remove the 93-year-old Condit Dam on the White Salmon River.
As is the case in most scientific challenges, eminent trust should be placed in the scientists. The National Marine Fisheries Service concluded last week that removing Condit Dam (about 65 miles east of Vancouver) would greatly improve conditions for threatened chinook salmon and steelhead runs.
That's the good news. The bad news: "Breaching Condit Dam and draining the reservoir will release large plumes of sediment and turbidity, which will further degrade the habitat for some time." For more than a year our recommendation has been: Allow the long-term benefit to overtake the short-term setback. Keeping the dam would mean continued sediment build-up and blocking of habitat.
Taking down the dam would open 33 miles of native steelhead habitat upstream and 14 miles of habitat for chinook. That corresponds with what other scientists have said, but as Kathie Durbin reported recently in The Columbian, it conflicts with the stance of officials in Skamania and Klickitat counties. Also, property owners on the banks of the reservoir oppose dam breaching. Opponents argue that the sediment plume would kill fish and other aquatic species and could wipe out a population of endangered chum salmon.
But proponents of the plan say fish could access new upstream habitat within a year and that the lower reach below the dam could be usable within two years.
PacifiCorp, the Portland-based utility, wants to remove the dam in October 2008 at a cost of $20 million. The dam has become an antiquated plug in the White Salmon River just three miles from the Columbia River. If dismantled, the 125-foot-tall dam would become the highest dam ever breached in the United States.
For many decades the Pacific Northwest went through a dam-building boom, to the region's economic benefit but also with harmful environmental impacts. That debate will last into perpetuity. We don't expect a dam-breaching boom, but taking down Condit certainly would prove that even bold solutions are within reach.
In Our View: Take Down Condit
Friday, October 27, 2006
Columbian editorial writers
White Salmon River dam should be removed. The dilemma is not unusual in environmental circles: Will the long-term benefit be worth the short-term harm? That's the difficult question facing experts who are studying PacifiCorp's proposal to remove the 93-year-old Condit Dam on the White Salmon River.
As is the case in most scientific challenges, eminent trust should be placed in the scientists. The National Marine Fisheries Service concluded last week that removing Condit Dam (about 65 miles east of Vancouver) would greatly improve conditions for threatened chinook salmon and steelhead runs.
That's the good news. The bad news: "Breaching Condit Dam and draining the reservoir will release large plumes of sediment and turbidity, which will further degrade the habitat for some time." For more than a year our recommendation has been: Allow the long-term benefit to overtake the short-term setback. Keeping the dam would mean continued sediment build-up and blocking of habitat.
Taking down the dam would open 33 miles of native steelhead habitat upstream and 14 miles of habitat for chinook. That corresponds with what other scientists have said, but as Kathie Durbin reported recently in The Columbian, it conflicts with the stance of officials in Skamania and Klickitat counties. Also, property owners on the banks of the reservoir oppose dam breaching. Opponents argue that the sediment plume would kill fish and other aquatic species and could wipe out a population of endangered chum salmon.
But proponents of the plan say fish could access new upstream habitat within a year and that the lower reach below the dam could be usable within two years.
PacifiCorp, the Portland-based utility, wants to remove the dam in October 2008 at a cost of $20 million. The dam has become an antiquated plug in the White Salmon River just three miles from the Columbia River. If dismantled, the 125-foot-tall dam would become the highest dam ever breached in the United States.
For many decades the Pacific Northwest went through a dam-building boom, to the region's economic benefit but also with harmful environmental impacts. That debate will last into perpetuity. We don't expect a dam-breaching boom, but taking down Condit certainly would prove that even bold solutions are within reach.
