What Happens When You Remove a Dam
The US is deconstructing four dams along the Klamath River.
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No! Bad B1M. Masterworks is a questionable sponsor.
@@jjc2896 right up there with crypto, nft's, and tulips.
@@jjc2896 I would like to hear your opinion on why. I'm just curious, not reprimanding
Ponzi scheme in a pseudo intellectual wrapper
You had this video in your folder for quite a while and realized now was the perfect time to play the algorithm, didn't you?
3:03 "No dam project of this size has ever been torn down" - Well there was a massive dam project that has been torn down in record time just a few days ago. Rip Nova Kakhovka dam
Rip Nord stream. America the antagonist as usual.
not to think about what toxins are buried in these sedidemts over the decades which are now spilled over the fields. Don't think they can plant any crops there very soon
@@mla2385 Trust me, the decrease of fires and increase of salmon stock are worth far more. Plus lack of water hurts agg and in OR often hydrodams, fish, and farming are fighting over it. This removes one of the competitions to long term benefit of the farms.
Inb4 orcs in the comments
Good one
This video has obviously been in development for a while (like most of the B1M vids I’d imagine). You can’t just create a video like this in a day. Also, last weeks video was on the creation of a dam/reservoir - this is like the other side of that. Either way, great work The B1M 👍
Meanwhile in Ukraine....a dam is removed overnight.
@@Mrbfgray 😞
Most professional KZhead videos take about a week to produce. This video would have taken a week or two to produce, although little bits of it might have been produced months ago.
@@Locutustry months not weeks lol. Some of these take months to make
@@Church_Of_Kloppism Lol, lol, lol, lol. Soooo sooo funny. Lol.
I think Russia’s just conducted the world’s largest dam removal, actually.
@@Zuluknob Ruzzia.
@@Zuluknob yes, ukraine destroys its own infrastructure, risks the live of thousands of its own people only to make russia look even worse than it does already
@@Zuluknob 🤡🤡🤡
@ zuluknob don't be so gullible. 🤡
Too soon
Bro really timed releasing this video with this specific topic on top of current recent events
My thought too. But I bet they've had planned this video for weeks beforehand. So I'm sure it's just unfortunate coincidence
I do hope we are going to follow this story in the upcoming years.
Look up the Elwha River Damn removal
@@Nionix123 Most informative, thanks.
It’s certainly a big damn problem
yeah, lets remove all dams because of the nature and then get huge floods and electricity shortage
@@jdsd_ literally nobody said that we should, bozo
This is The World's SECOND Largest Dam Removal
Dark humor at its finest, I dig it
Spontaneous
I don't get it. American meme?
@@gomahklawm4446 no a Ukrainian & Russian meme.
@@gomahklawm4446 Someone blew up a large damn along the Dniper river, it's unclear who did it.
This dam video showing all these dam projects is crazy. Might be time to go on a dam road trip and see these dam structures.
We've been doing this in Washington state for some years now, really amazing to see after the dam is gone.
90,000 dams? In the US? Would never have guess that.
Yeah. We spent decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries building them. Some should always remain -- most of the Tennessee Valley Authority dams need to stay right where they are, as do the ones on the Colorado River. But others -- such as these along the Klamath River, have filled with sediment to such an extent that they have limited utility (and so shallow they cause the algae blooms), and we're a lot more aware of environmental concerns.
It's all sorts of sizes though, from hoover dam to beaver dam. I don't know if they count beaver dams 😂
The US used to have higher taxes and less military spending.
It's closer to 200,000. Only 30,000 are inventoried
@@jayspeidell The US had no income tax during the period these dams were built. Don't make up stuff you clearly know nothing about.
I first paddled the Klamath almost 20 years ago, and even at that time the uselessness of these four dams was plainly evident from water level.
do you use electricity?
@@scottjohnston6768 I do! But these dams are very easily replaced by a few wind turbines and solar panels. 18 MW of capacity is 4-6 wind turbines now.
@@brandob9 I moved to this area 4 years ago, so I am learning the ins and outs of the issue of removing these 4 dams. Clean energy is a goal of not only CA, and the US, but around the globe. Removing the dams removes a source of clean energy. The reservoirs (water) are used for domestic use, farming and sometimes for firefighting. CA has seen the number of devastating fires grow, esp. over the last few years. My family was evacuated from our home last summer because of a wildfire. I know from personal experience the hardship created when our domestic well went dry, two years in a row. Water is a huge deal, not only in CA where I live, but in the southwestern states. Water storage and clean energy are being removed along with the dams. Plus, the property value loss to homeowners who live near the reservoirs, with no compensation from the government. This issue was put before voters and the result was 60-70% of voters want the dams to stay. Ignoring the voice of the voters is a violation of the constitution. What is going to happen to the Klamath River in an extended drought, and there are no reservoirs to release water to help the fish survive? So no, I don't think this is a great idea to remove the dams. And yes, the salmon and other species are important, esp. to the two native tribes who live here. There's got to be a better way.
@@jimperdue6166as the dams actually contributing much to electricity generation if they're below useable water levels most of the time?
@@TheMasterofComment I don't know if that is true or not. Even if it were, CA and this area have water problems. Plus wildfires, the reservoirs can be used to help firefighters do their job.
I would love to see you going back to this project for the water unleashing when the projects are ready for it. Would be a great followup video with some fun shots of loada of water 😊
I grew up in Siskiyou County (where the dams are) and now live in Klamath Falls. I did some survey work for one of the restoration efforts as well. People have been arguing about this project since I was a kid so its pretty cool to see it get featured here!
So no dams, but grid stability? I don't see this working.
THIS IS THE NEW, NEW SCIENCE! THE ONE THAT SAYS "GOT YET" again !
Thanks for another great video buff architecture man
In which way is the energy these dams produced replaced? How were they operated in terms of power production? More like peak hour supply or more on a base load pattern? I am not an electric power expert, but I know that in terms of wind- and sun-based power generation it will be important to have complementary possibilities to fill in gaps in windless times with lack of sunny weather.
Finally someone who has common sense!👺
With the push for electric vehicles of all sizes, and elimination of natural gas, it seems like a bad time to remove power generation until the replacement is in service. Don't fall the coal fired power plants already shut down.
Hope they won't solve it in the German way!
Oil and gas have been lobbying hard for the removal of hydro power
Nope🙃 They just increased interstate imports natural gas and coal fired generation from the upper midwest.
Thanks for covering my state! This is quite an impressive project!
It's also an absolutely insane, irresponsible destruction of low-carbon energy infrastructure that we will regret for generations.
@@wileycoyote556 There are methods of low carbon energy production that don't destroy fish populations and habitats. That said I reckon they should keep hydro in the mix until there's enough solar and wind power to justify removal without putting pollution targets backward
Wind and solar don't replace load-following electricity capacity, they don't even provide base load capacity. You can build as much as you want and it won't replace these dams, ironically the best type of storage for wind and solar is hydro storage. Wind and solar also use a massive amount of land and have a detrimental effect on many species of animal for this reason (and others, for wind.)
@@wileycoyote556 These dams are so full of sediment, after 100 years, they've nearly reached the end of the useful lives anyway.
Throwing away infrastructure without replacing is not the answer to issues with extended maintenence. Multiple strategies exist to address sedimentation in dams, tearing it down is not necessary and no expert source that I've seen has stated that it is. Oregon won't replace this power with wind and solar, in fact the primary fuel source among east Oregon utilities is coal.
Who came here to see dam removal ?
It doesn't have to be expensive...mother nature will do it for free.
Ironic timing given the destruction of the dam in Ukraine 🇺🇦 today.
yesterday though
Probably been creating this video for weeks. Last weeks video was also on a dam / reservoir
@@GeekyMedia I'm glad someone wrote basically the same thing I just did
@@GeekyMedia maybe the b1m can predict future?? oh no
Ironic? This video was probably released to play the algorithm.
As a local of these areas I love to see this topic get some discussion
There are so many under-engineered and unsafe smaller dams, we should expect an increasing rate of dam removal during the following decades.
When it comes to safety weirs are considerably more dangerous, more numerous, and much cheaper and easier to remove.
@@deus_ex_machina_ very good point. I don’t think,they are mutually exclusive projects. I would hope that governments and stakeholders prioritize all projects to achieve the most safety, economic, cultural, and environmental benefits .
@@vanguard9067 Indeed. I neglected to mention that weirs were more dangerous for those traversing the river, whether swimming or in a canoe/kayak, but they don't pose a flood risk for downstream communities like larger reservoirs do. It also depends on how much you care about ecological damage. A native tribe might come to a very different conclusion than a mining company, on that front. Engineering is a matter of balancing trade-offs, after all, and the US is in for a gargantuan effort repairing and replacing its crumbling infrastructure. The only way to take decisive action while also balancing stakeholders who have competing or even opposing demands is to price in the 'externalities', an example would be a carbon tax. The other option would be to let AI decide, but even that would merely perpetuate our biases in the weights given to the various trade-offs.
@@deus_ex_machina_ I figured that’s what you meant about weirs. I pictured one in my head on the Potomac River used to ensure the necessary level to feed the Washington, DC water system. Seems every couple of years someone gets trapped (or worse) there. Yes, a gargantuan effort, one for which I am not sure the public understands the necessity. I hope the money spent will evaluate/incorporate e sustainability in project planning, design, construction, and maintenance. Think as long-term as feasible. Ah externalities, so often overlooked, ignored, hidden in unfettered capitalism. I am still shocked that most of the US environmental statutes and regulations were put in place during the Nixon administration, with strong support from both parties. It is hard to imagine that level of agreement now. As one portion of my career, I performed siting analyses and environmental impact assessments, finding that applying weighting on top of ranking of the analytical criteria, resulted in a false sense of accuracy and precision. AI would first need to learn that lesson to be at all useful, but in practice a single person or AI can’t deliver a good result. I prefer a mini-Delphi approach, during which the challenge is identifying the right people to participate. I learned so much from those people, as well has fun doing the work. Have a great day and a nice week.
The more they remove the better. This is great news.
Awesome video, thanks for sharing! Happy week to everyone! 😊😊
Going through a drought “let’s take the dams down” make sense to me
Maybe the waterscould redirected toward Portland and flush out the filth now so prevalent in the City.
They can do that with the Willamette and Columbia rivers.
DamNation 2014 - Great documentary about US dams and their removal.... A touch old but holds up.
Another dam great video, Fred ;-) Thanks mate!
I worked at Copco 2 when the equipment was overhauled in 2007/2008. It was a beautiful place even with the dam. I’d love to see it what it looks like now that it’s gone.
Very enjoyable as usual 👍
With predicted water shortages coming in the near future I do question if the fish are the more important consideration here.
Abalone fishing was greatly diminished after environmental laws were implemented in the 1960’s. This created an enormous turn around in Pacific Ocean ecosystem along the California Coast. As evidenced by increasing sea otter population et al. Salmon provides the same foundation for ecosystems all the way into Idaho. We are part of this ecosystem and I wish to play the role of gardener as opposed to conqueror (manifest destiny).
Something that many people don't realize is that the spawning fish are an important nitrogen (fertilizer) source in the watershed. The animals catching the fish or scavenging their carcasses distribute the nitrogen embodied in the fish protein on land by both scattering scraps and urinating after eating.
I can only pray that Ethiopian officialdom sees this and reconsiders its project to dam the Nile.
The human has become a terra former rather than a gardener.
@@Luddite-vd2tsThose people are desperate for ways to provide energy and assist them in developing their societies. Hydro electricity is usually considered a good way to reduce dependency on coal fired power stations if the local geography is suitable. I guess there are other options though so what are your thoughts as an alternative? I’m asking respectfully.
Removing good hydro electric power sources seems a very bad idea?
It's great to see. It would be nice to see a before and after video not just the proposal. You mentioned 65 dams removed. How are they doing? Is it having a positive effect on the wildlife?
been following the Elwah removal since I first heard about it. This sounds great.
Dams were build everywhere in the past. We are now in a time when many smaller, obsolete, dams are actually removed, and many smaller rivers are finally being restored.
I live in Oregon and many people are hopeful that we can uncover Celilo Falls someday.
Dams along the Grand Columbia will be harder to get rid off and the energy consequences are just too huge comparing to the Klamath Dams
Do you propose to get your electricity from unicorn farts? 🦄 ☁️ ⚡ 💡
The Condit dam on the White Salmon river in OR was removed over a year without incident.
I heard that since the condit dam was removed fifteen thousand ppl around the area mysteriously died of an unknown illness.
That's in WA, not OR btw
We still have no more fish and unfortunately no electricity, only taxes. White Salmon drains into the Columbia, which is the Boundary between Oregon & Washington. A lot of what affects people on one side, also affects the other.
And they're now missing 14.7 megawatts of clean electricity that has been replaced with expensive natural gas firing. 🙃
@@alibarron7558if you have no electricity, how are you on the internet then?
I was just there! The river is beautiful.
I like the way you show a decaying salmon in the water like the dam cause it. The fish die after they spawn.
Sshhh!!!!! No need to obscure things with facts!!!!!!
What method/ source is replacing the power? What was hydro-electric, what is the new power source?
Thanks, Fred! Very interesting. Never would have guessed how much goes into getting rid of a dam.
Okay to be fair i am a Civil Engineer so i have more indepth look on construction. But seriously, you never would have guessed? Infrastrucural Problems aside, Controlling thousands of tons of water never appeared to be a difficulty?
Interesting timing
When they built the dam, the river was rerouted. Why not make a route for the fish....catch 2 fish with one hook 😮
B1M - "you wouldn't believe how hard it is to tear one down" 617 Squadron RAF - "Hold my beer!"
Vladimir Putin ,hold my beer
What kind of electrical source will it be replaced by?
The large flowing dams arent the issue. Its the ones that reduce water to a trickle or stop it that need to go. We had it with the Murray river here. Absolutely destroyed.
Man. You found the best time to put a video about Dams on youtube )))
With all due respect to the commentary. I believe there is a misunderstanding. As stated in the beginning, these Dams no longer serve the purpose they were built for. No one is suggesting every Dam should be taken out.
Brilliant video as always!
Dam! I'm here early.
While this is interesting, I notice he doesn't really go into the benefits of keeping the dams. Klamath has very short bursts of rain fall and some snow pack. Avoiding flooding is important in the area with the sandy soil, and spring the local agriculture industry throughout the long dry summers would be extremely difficult without the dams. That's not too mention the about of cheep power that the dams produce. Why is there no discussion of the benefits of keeping the dam?
The documentary on the Elwah dam removal is really special and worth a watch to see the value of this work being done. Great vid b1m
that was a dam that was no longer needed for what it was built for.
Would love a follow up on this. A part 2.
So, exactly how much money do the dam removals save? And over what time period? And does it take into account replacing the electricity for 70K homes with as much reliability?
That's why they'll never dismantle the O'Shaughnessy Dam inside Yosemite National Park. It would cost way too much money and the loss of water storage and power generation will cause even more problems.
Cost of maintenance over decades vs one time removal? Many dams have deferred maintenance that can no longer be ignored. Resevoirs behind dams fill up with sediment and greatly reduce their capacity to hold water, their primary function. The ecological impacts of dams are also devastating to river systems
@@Sumbutta The O'Shaughnessy Dam is not a small dam. It would be enormously expensive to drain the lake, remove the dam, restore the land behind the dam, raise Don Pedro Dam 35 feet downstream, build new water aqueducts from Don Pedro Dam and build new hydroelectric power plants at Don Pedro Dam. The cost could be over US$25 billion, if they're lucky!
They don't save money or help the people who live in the areas. Dams help with water storage, power creation, and flood control. Removing them isn't about prioritizing the environment as flooding can cause enormous environment, social and economic damage. So a better question is why are governments and organizations pushing this agenda?
It's like Germany getting rid of its nuclear plants and replacing them with coal.
So where does the replacement electricity come from?
In Australia we build small dams all down rivers as it helps the eco system survive dry conditions. It works really well and creates oasis all down the river. Obviously these are just rock walls that the water fills and runs over.
Much of the sediment behind the damns are rich in nutrients good for planting and/or raising crops. What if the sediment was "washed" of a good portion of the nutrients, and what sediment is left could be used as bedding for a number of animals? You would have "fertilizer" for crops, and bedding for farm animals. What's left of the physical damn could be recycled for other projects. In all, what was spent on taking out the damn could be made back through this technique.
Without removing the 2 dams immediately upstream of the JC Boyle Dam I don't see how this project will change conditions much.
It makes their tummy's feel warm after they pay each other's backs.
both Keno and link river dams contain fish ladders. Additionally, neither of these two dams were ever the main drivers of the toxic algae blooms that have devastated fish populations.
@@jfletch09 Yeah the ladders should help some, but Upper Klamath Lake has routine blue green algae advisories where people shouldn't swim in the lake.
@@bigfish222 That is true and primarily a result of fertilizer runoff. The dam removal should open up habitat in the stream below the Keno dam and potentially in the areas above Klamath Lake. Even when there are toxic algae blooms in the lake itself, the rivers that feed into it remain quite clean. Not sure whether this is all worth it, but it should allow fish access all the way up into the upper tributaries.
Ok, I understand, the Salmon habitat. But with what kind of electricity sources these dams will be replaced? Hydro power is CO2 neutral, while US still doesn't have a lot of Nuclear or Solar power plants
Next up will be everyone whining about the skyrocketing cost of power ( pacific power anyone?? ) blackouts / brownouts, and a new Nuclear Power plant being built...
@@matthewmattchoo6621 Nuclear power plants are great, we should definitely build more of them
Being CO2 neutral doesn't equate to being environmentally good. Your EV, may be as a car itself relatively co2 neutral, but the production is everything but that, maintenance etc isn't either. Same way as Solar is also horrific for the environment, simply because it can't be recycled profitable, meaning it'll just rot and bring toxic shit in to the ground. What we have to focus on is becoming good for nature, that means rebuilding nature to its natural way AND bringing Civilization back to a more in touch way.
@@pavelmyshov464The West Coast is also removing its nuclear capacity. They're trying to replace the hydro with wind to mixed results. A lot of people want to move much of its hydro out to sea by transitioning tidal generators.
@@simsreject5925 hydro cannot be replaced by wind, because hydro is a base generation, it produces electricity 24/7, while the wind is unpredictable and produces electricity at random. Nuclear can replace hydro, but we dont see much of it either. Overall, its pretty weird to reduce amount of energy produced by carbon free sources while we all try to fight climate change
Masterworks, legitimizing what criminals have done for centuries.
He doesn't care as long as he gets that sponsorship $$$
I don’t think removing renewable energy from the grid when we need more desperately is a smart idea.
It's being replaced by much less environmentally damaging green energy
Sure it is.
It's a brilliant idea to finally see the havoc these dams wreak upon the natural habitats. Then we can always generate that power in a better way, like nuclear.
We have a nuclear plant near us and pay 8.5¢ watt. Those near the Smokys with hydroelectric pay 5¢ watt. Say what you want about bird killing windmills or habitat stealing solar farms green energy won't be enough to electrify the country.
@@sammythompson3694 thats still incredibly cheap! We usually pay 35-45US cents pr kWh here in Denmark.
Great content B1M. Keep it up.
the issue is fulfilling an "intended purpose" of course those dams are! it's the unintended consequences that are realized with time
A dams main function is to store water in areas that are prone to regular drought, and in particular, areas with a large population with large water needs for drinking, cooking, bathing, and growing crops. There are certain by products if you will, from building large dams. Some are positive and some are negative. There has to be a sustainable balance between human needs, and the flora/fauna of the area that is impacted by the dam. In our society today, that balance is off because certain groups believe that their agenda is more important, and maintaining a balance is not important to them. It's tha same problem with our forests. Mega fires happen because the forest is "out of balance"thanks to certain groups that feel their cause is more important than everyone elses.
Let's remove the humans and leave the dams...lol.
How the hell is it cheaper to tear down a dam than building a salmon ladder
I’ve been interested in dam removals for a while and it’s cool to see this subject getting more attention
Once again, superbly done. I'm looking forward to seeing more.
A lot of dams where built for flood control. Unless they are silted up and the silt can't be removed then removing the dam is correct? But then flood control is lost?
Given the level of water this year, are the hydro plants running flat out?
So what are they doing to replace the power lost from these 4 damns?
Like they said in the video. Easily replaced by other dams
@@eily_b Until the "other" dams are at max capacity and then what? Oh sorry we don't have power for you anymore...
Wondering about where they’re going to be getting their energy from. If it’s from fossil fuels, that isn’t exactly an environmental improvement. Maybe they’ll just buy more from BC, who produces 93% of its electricity from hydroelectric dams.
Thats a valid point, but I guess your assumption might be right: This area doesnt seem to have a shortage of hydropower. And the video even says these dams were not running at their maximum a lot of the time. The big advantage of hydro power is that (normally) its running constantly. These here seem to have major problems with so I guess they werent profitable or really efficient anyways.
Elon will be providing lithium batteries.
Yes - seems like a bad idea to remove dams when we can’t make our climate change goals. This is about as shortsighted as countries in the EU turning off their nuclear plants. Seems by their actions many environmentalists don’t believe climate change is real. Solar and wind will not replace the generation from this. Hydro and nuclear are the only carbon free means to balance those techs with reliable 24h production.
@@Gummmibaerreally hydro can be run like a big battery - one that doesn’t require mining and replacement every 20 years. If you let water build when solar/wind are working and run water down the turbines as those energy sources are not present, this balances without requiring natural gas generation (which loses efficiency being turned on/off too). Not being 100% on doesn’t remove the value of this for a balanced carbon free grid. In fact some dams pump up off peak and allow rundown on peak to balance grids. Ironically, I think CA plans to build one like that soon.
These are all tiny little insignificant dams. Iron Gate in California only has an installed capacity of 18MW for example. Your average newly installed wind turbine has an installed capacity of 3MW for reference. So at most replacing Iron Gate in terms of capacity is six newly installed wind turbines. Of course installed capacity isn't actual power generation and both wind and water plus actual electrical grid demand can fluctuate, but the point is, these aren't massive energy sources no matter how you slice it. And note that wind turbines are getting bigger and more productive all the time - the largest offshore models these days get up to 15MW per unit so it's coming to a point where even a single wind turbine would supersede this dam. When you couple that with the downstream consequences of keeping these relatively insignificant, inefficient, old hydroelectric dams in place (algal blooms, erosion, water usage concerns etc etc) it becomes a far more cost-effective solution just to tear them down than to keep them maintained when other renewables are getting better by the year.
It requires consistent and phenomenal efforts by the stakeholders of the river to actually make the powers that be to give in to agree for such a colossal removal of these structures which actually are metaphors for their huge egos since these infrastructure projects are representative of their supposed legacies and consider them as their alteregos
It’s cool, we don’t need water, we can do without. The electricity produced can be replaced by cutting down large patches of forest and replacing them with solar and wind energy. Honestly if we want to save the planet we need to go back like it was in the year 1492 when everything was natural and everything was green.
A lot of small are currently being removed in France and Spain too. It's not just in the United States.
And lets all remember these are the same people that say fossil fuels are going to kill us and ruin the whole planet but lets get rid of our best renewable energy sources.
"No dam project of this size has ever been torn down before..." * chuckles in 617 squadron RAF *
I pay for KZhead premium to avoid assholes trying to sell something and this guy just plugs it in for them.
The B1M: the best dam content on KZhead!
Well done on keeping a straight face during your dam pun. There better be a blooper reel for it!
We need a follow up to this in a couple months when this project is mostly competed
love the vids, and I am happy to deal with ads inside videos, but not a huge fan of masterworks
He doesn't care as long as he gets that sponsorship $$$
Just think about what it would be like without even drinking water. I know you can just call Sparklets, Dasani or some other regional bottled water.
Discussed this whilst in university 25 years ago in a hydrology course. The same analogy about blocking arteries were made back then and it never left my mind. I hope more dams are removed and more restoration projects are considered. I think the modern world is too quick to suppress natural cycles which usually puts us in competition with the earth rather than working with it.
Another example is swamps, good intentions to drain them and destroy them (malaria) but we are utterly annihilating natural processes that when disturbed have such a runaway effect it's horrifying.
How about all the habitat that is being destroy for solar and wind farms?
@@David-rx5eoI'm personally not fully on board with solar and wind. I don't have a perfect solution but I do like the concept of solar. I've looked into geothermal but even there I feel there's something we've yet to consider that could much more "equitable". Many good ideas I've seen over the years so I think there's good conversation out there.
@@David-rx5eo You mean rooftops and unused parking lots? /s Most solar farms are put up where a building had been demolished, or on land that was already degraded, or even to coexist with grazing lands. You don't demolish habitats for solar. It doesn't make any sense economically to do so.
@@FranNyan No I mean the huge solar and wind farms that they build. If you think they are not building huge solar and win farms then you are deluding yourself. In fact I drive past big wind farms in California every time I got out to a Desert Casino to see a concert, and those wind farms have killed thousand of birds. I no want I am talking about, because I did the research and wrote a term paper about it.
videos like this should include literature and sources, then I can cite it in academic papers
Actually looks simple, wish my work was that straightforward
I'm all for the restoration of the environment. I went up to the Elwah, after that Dam was removed. My Only question is. How are we supplementing these losses. Now with all the EV and banning gas stoves and heating. Time to get a wood stove I guess. Set up my own little watermill for power. 🤷
They didn't. They just increased coal burning in the upper midwest. 🙃 Anti human environmentalists are agaisnt ALL industrial civilization including nuclar and hydroelectricity, not just coal, gas, and oil.
Wood stoves, and fireplaces are being banned.
@@David-rx5eo They gotta catch me. I mean literally.
Well, as a water management specialists, I see issues. Removing the hydropower and water storages could backfire badly. Water quality and sediments can be managed easily, if those engineers and others ever listening. To me a fish ladder is the best option and claiming is more expensive than dam removal is bs. Lates fish ladder technology is simple and cost-effective.
What would you then do about habitats that are not all year round wet or dry and rely on the changing of the water level to function?
@Ruhrpottpatriot Well is a different story. There are management options. All is a trade-off. However, hydropower and energy storage are especially important for the future, especially with solar and wind power.
@@jantschierschky3461 Solar and Wind are peak load power systems which has no correlation here. Hydro is suppose to be baseload. However, these particular dams apparently run at such low capacity they don't generate much electricity. Looks like it's more of a case of these dams are so dilapidated they would need major investment to reconstittue them and thus the fish ladder in that scenario isn't as practical as you claim. Just look at the designs of these dams, where would you put a fish ladder? It would have needed these designs from the outset, you're wrong about it not being expensive here because you're talking about in general, not specifically these dams. It doesn't take an expert to look at these designs and go yeah i'm sure it's a simple fix. Dude really? Infinite resources scenario: yes it could be done: real world scenario: it's far too costly for the benefit when it only addresses one of numerous problems. The US has blocked too many rivers over the years back when there wasn't any possible way to know the long term impacts. Just because you have a reservoir doesn't mean it's quality water, in fact it's the opposite there it's become backed up with toxic sludge and algae. Only a GOOD QUALITY source of water is useful as a reservoir, if it becomes tainted then it's a huge burden, not a benefit. These dams need to go.
@Hatchete well that why I said pump storage. The sediment is 70% organic, so it can be easily biodegraded. I do that for a living. Some dams should be removed, but many should remain.
The fish ladder solution also has to factor in the maintenance costs of keeping an un-needed dam in that location.
I grew up in Oregon. Finally!
Most dams are on rivers with high sediment content. This is a result of erosion caused by rapid water flow. Sediment builds up behind dams, reducing the capacity of the reservoir until the dam is basically a waterfall. This process can take many years, or just a few decades. But it is very common. Dams are harmful to fish that swim to the sea like salmon because they slow the flow of the river down drastically. Young fish would be at the ocean in just days before the dams. Now it takes weeks to swim that distance, and there is very little to eat along the way. The next big engineering job might be to build a pipeline that captures flow from all major tributaries and sends it to the ocean quickly, so that hatchlings can be collected and put in the pipeline. This would get them to the ocean in a short time, while avoiding the turbines at the dams. The pipeline would only have flow during the spring months when the eggs are hatching. Fish returning to spawn have less trouble getting upstream than before, because the lakes have covered many waterfalls.
Can't remove a dam when the new water level is being used by towns and farmers upstream. They would then need to rebuild their water source. Properties values as "lakefront" properties would now become "hillside" properties far from water and pretty sure owners would need to be compensated. In such cases fish ladders are far more cost effective. With the accelerating change of climate, it may not be wise to remove dams that help buffer unpredictable massive rain vs drought periods.
Damn
What's going to replace the electricity dams provide and why is it so difficult to build fish ladders?
This project screams for a HBO Drama/Catastrophe series :) I would watch
I wonder, was there any consideration to leaving limited portions of the dams with specific sized openings in them to provide some throttling of sudden high rate flows to limit down stream flooding and infrastructure damage to cominities the river passes through?
They get plugged up with debris (like trees and limestone boulders) and stupid stuff that people push off into them (like washing machines) so good luck with that idea.
Environmentalists tend to be single-minded in their solutions to a perceived problem. So I'm willing to bet almost no consideration was given to anything other than dam removal. But a floodgate system might be a good idea given how many problems CA has had in recent years with winter runoff wiping out areas downstream. The other problem is several of these dams were built to retain water for the arid summers in regions to the south. So now CA and OR are going to have more damaging flooding in the winter and spring and more damaging drought and wildfires in the summer.
@@simsreject5925 this is the California way.
Leaving openings doesn't allow the river to flow naturally.will hold back the sediment they need gone to return the river to its natural state . The big risk of damming up the river by debris getting caught in the opening and without costly maintenance on the remaining structure the concrete will crumble and cause problems when it collapses and also the chemical that leach from the concrete will affect the purity of the water which will affect the aquatic life in the river. Fish and other aquatic life may be able to live in contaminated water but it may not be able to successfully breed and sustain future generations. Plus, who wants to spoil nature with ugly concrete
Every time ive ever seen a dam i always thought about the fish. Its nice to see im not alone.
While having a lakefront property no longer be on a lakefront is less than desirable, even there is a silver lining, aside from the long term benefits- if the residents absolutely demanded it, property lines could be extended to near the riverbanks, with the river itself having the necessary easement on its banks, and otherwises, subsidies are still a thing
I think once you remove the dams nature will heal quite quickly.
Since these are reservoirs. People are getting their drinking water from these reservoirs behind the dams. How are they going to replace this drinking water to the homes?
@@johnperic6860 A reservoir this large will be difficult to replace for the homeowners. It's important to care for the people who live here.
Times change and we have now applications on our phones unlike before. We got software that makes it possible to recycle electricity from active devices plugged in a wall socket.
The government will just start rationing water. 🙃 A certain politial party loves artificially enforced energy and resource scarcity.
@@gregorymalchuk272 everyone must buy electric cars that you won't be able to charge up!
Honestly, these are the ONLY reasonable dam removals that should ever happen.
I'm googling rn how they plan to replace the power lost due to demolition. Will update when I find it.
they assume that they can get unlimited power from the BPA...
The klamath river hydroelectric project (the 4 dams being taken out) produces max 169 MW. As per the cal iso dashboard, California has the ability to call on 39,646 MW of available capacity. The power provided by these dams is a rounding error in the power portfolios of both California and Oregon. available capacity is more than able to compensate for the power generation being taken offline
@@jfletch09 BS, Cali can't even keep the power on in the summer. We (yes, I live in Cali) already have rolling blackouts, and they want everyone to buy electric vehicles too. It is crazy in California.
Yippie! Thank you!