‘Dam Republic’ USA to Spend 700 Billion Won to Demolish Four Western Dams

Environmental Issues Including Mass Death of 70,000 Salmon Spur 'River Restoration Dam Removal Movement'
Officially Registered Dams Number 90,000, Approximately 2.5 Million Including Unregistered Dams

On the Klamath River in the western United States, there are four dams sequentially built by Pacific Energy from 1909 to 1962. The photo shows the lower Klamath Dam. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] The largest dam removal project in U.S. history, with an investment of about 700 billion won, will be fully implemented starting next year.

On the 17th (local time), according to AP News and others, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave final approval to simultaneously remove four dams on the lower Klamath River, which runs through southern Oregon and northern California.

This approval comes six years after California, Oregon, the power company Pacific Energy, and environmental groups agreed on the removal in April 2016. Local tribes and environmental groups have been advocating for the removal of the Klamath River dams for 20 years, and approval from U.S. regulatory authorities was the final hurdle. With this approval, dam removal work can officially begin next year.

The U.S. and Europe have already removed numerous dams over the past 100 years. The reason for removing dams is clear. Old dams that are no longer economically viable and unused cause fatal damage to river ecosystems. Therefore, dam removal is the easiest and most effective way to restore river ecosystems.

On the Klamath River in the western U.S., Pacific Energy built four dams sequentially from 1909 to 1962. These dams have supplied power to the region but have become aged over time, blocking the river flow and causing various environmental problems. In particular, in the early 2000s, about 70,000 salmon living in this river died en masse, sparking a dam removal movement for "river restoration."

Although there were some opposing opinions concerned about power supply, state governments and authorities ultimately decided to spend $500 million (about 676 billion won) to remove the dams. This is the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.

Once all the dams are gone, water quality is expected to improve, enhancing the lives of tribes dependent on the river, and restoring over 400 km of salmon habitat. Frankie Meyer, vice chairman of the Yurok Tribe living in the Klamath River basin, said, "The dams are being removed not only from the river but also from our culture and lives," adding, "These dams were a dark cloud hanging over our river and people for 100 years."

Meanwhile, the U.S. has 90,000 officially registered dams. It is estimated that there are about 2.5 million unregistered dams. Among these, 9,254 large dams over 15 meters in height are registered with the International Commission on Large Dams. It is truly a dam republic. Most dams were intensively built from the 1950s to the 1980s. From the mid-1970s, dam removals of unused dams began to increase rapidly. Since 1912, 1,605 dams have been removed.

The largest dams ever removed in U.S. history are the 33-meter-high Elwha Dam built in 1913 and the 64-meter-high Glines Canyon Dam built in 1927. Both dams were removed in 2011 and 2014 respectively due to restoration of fishery resources including salmon in the Elwha River and safety concerns.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and FERC officially announced in 1991 that dam removal was the only way to fully restore the Elwha River ecosystem. The following year, in 1992, President Bush signed the "Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act," and after deciding to remove the two dams in 1995, careful preparations were made, and removal began in 2011. The result was successful. The Elwha River was perfectly restored. After removal, the salmon return graph steeply increased year by year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.