Posted on 05/28/2011 8:45:39 AM PDT by matt1234
But wouldn't that expense fall to the prior owners -- the power company, the power authority, the county, the city or whoever?
Seems to me that, if the enviros are itching to take out the dams, they should be charged with financing the venture. They'd be free to recruit partners and solicit contributions. But it would be up to them to raise the money.
As it now is, the taxpayers are funding the operation. And I'd wager that the enviros will be collecting a hefty "consultation fee" to oversee the process.
According to the article, the dams (combined) produce enough electricity for 1700 homes. That would be what, enough to power a small town with maybe 4000 residents? It really does look like these dams aren’t very important. And while the precedent may in theory be unfortunate, in the real world precedent gets about as much respect as its cousin, logical consistency, does.
But wouldn't that expense fall to the prior owners -- the power company, the power authority, the county, the city or whoever?
Seems to me that, if the enviros are itching to take out the dams, they should be charged with financing the venture. They'd be free to recruit partners and solicit contributions. But it would be up to them to raise the money.
As it now is, the taxpayers are funding the operation. And I'd wager that the enviros will be collecting a hefty "consultation fee" to oversee the process.
And a dam obviously going on 100 yrs...
No! Too much CO2.
De-development proceeds apace.....
The problem are the eco-nazis who want all hydroelectric ripped out on aesthetics and now new ones built.
Apparently Amy Kober's house is now going to be heated and cooled by magical fairy dust.
Prayers for FReeper sionnsar (Update #116, 211, 297)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2722880/posts
It sounds like this would flood old-growth forests. If that's the case, what would the tree-huggers do?
Which sounds good until you realize that when they first built this dam, they were required by law to provide other water paths for the salmon to get back upstream, and they IGNORED THE LAW to save money.
What makes you think they will spend the money to collect eggs, fertilize them, and then put them up in the head waters???????
I think congress in its wonderful wisdom provided funds for that already. That is why we have something called fish hatcheries. Do you get out much.
I’ve lived out here in the Pacifist Northwest long enough to hear every damned foolish notion about breaching dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, so I’m familiar with the subject. At least the enviros stopped talking about disassembling all of the commerce from Idaho to Astoria, Oregon. The only reason they can farm up along the Snake River is because of the dams, which provide flood control, irrigation, and a navigable inland waterway that is extremely efficient at moving grain by barge. Without the dams, none of that exists, but at least the frackin’ Indians could go back to hand-dipping salmon...
The biggest hydroelectric dams on the major rivers have undergone significant upgrades over the years and the turbines are as efficient as you can get. The new turbines and raceways have tight tolerances and are designed not to hurt juvenile fish that go through the turbine. They all have extensive fish ladder systems built into them and they work pretty well overall. These older dams do not have any of that, and even the generation equipment is antiquated and almost impossible to support.
These older dams really would cost more to upgrade and to install fish ladders and other modern (and extremely expensive)technology, than it does to remove them all together. People simply cannot pay the cost of the electricity generated by such an upgrade and would be up in arms at even the suggestion of a rate increase sufficient to cover the bill.
The Sandy River over in Oregon had an old dam removed not quite 2 years ago, and the positive impact on fish passage was almost immediate. The silting was not as bad as expected, but it was not a 100 foot high dam like these older ones are. Silt removal is a major part of the breaching process to avoid having to dredge it out of the rivers later...
It’s a very big picture...
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