Liz Writes Life 1-29-2020

January 29, 2020

Liz Writes Life

An interesting meeting will be held this Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 regarding a possible dam-passage solution for salmon on Klamath River dams. The meeting will be at 2 p.m. at the KRCE Community Center in Hornbrook. The meeting is sponsored by the Siskiyou Water Users Assoc., who has advocated several practical solutions to salmon passage instead of destroying four Klamath dams and the environmentally-friendly hydro-electric facilities.

I talked with Richard Marshall, president of the Siskiyou Water Users, who said that the groups demanding the removal of the dams have not considered fish ladders or any type of passage around the dams. Over the years, the Siskiyou Water Users, Siskiyou County and other groups have suggested alternative fish passage solutions – but they have been ignored.

Back when the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement group was meeting (five to eight years ago), the removal of the four hydro-electric Klamath dams was the only solution on the table. KBRA and the present non-profit activist group, Klamath River Renewal Corporation, seem to only be interested in destroying the dams.

A final government decision to remove the dams has not been made. Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must make several decisions before the dams can be removed. These include relicensing the hydro-electric facilities from PacifiCorp to the non-profit KRRC and meeting the National Environmental Policy Act regarding the proposals for destruction of the four dams.

Many dams throughout the United States, and the world, have fish ladders and passages. There are alternatives to demolition of the Klamath dams.

Whooshh Innovations, based in Seattle, WA. is the inventor of the “Salmon Cannon,” but contrary to the name the technique is actually quite gentle in moving salmon.

I checked Whooshh Innovations website and learned the technique has been used to move fruit through a flexible transport tube. We all know that consumers do not like bruises on their apples, so the process must be fairly gentle. Whooshh tested its technology on live fish in 2011 and the technology has undergone numerous independent and peer reviewed studies. The process has become a game-changer and Whooshh systems are now being utilized in the United States and Europe.

Rich said it is an inexpensive fish passage solution compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars it would take to remove the four Klamath dams. Wow, cost-saving!

I have been reporting on the relicensing of the Klamath hydro-electric dams since 1998. It was surprising to me that PacifiCorp was not given a new 40 to 50 year license, when its previous long-term license ended in 2000. Environmental groups claim the Klamath hydro-electric dams were hurting the salmon runs especially after the coho salmon were listed to the federal Endangered Species Act in 1996. These claims have affected the relicensing process.

Years of wrangling and discussing the science and biology of salmon and water heated-up back in 1986, when congress approved the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Resources Restoration Act and provided $21 million for this 20-year study. In 1986, the congressional act targeted Chinook salmon and included impacts from the ocean like commercial and sports fishing.

When salmon and steelhead have swam the 190 miles from the Pacific Ocean and reach the Irongate Fish Hatchery, operated by CA. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, eggs are taken and millions of new young fish are hatched, grown and carefully released back into the Klamath River.

When I read more about Whooshh, I found it interesting the company has its roots in agriculture and has witnessed first-hand the seemingly contradiction between species listed with the Endangered Species Act and growing food.

The Whooshh story goes like this: In 2011, while field-testing its fruit harvester to mechanically harvest and sort tree fruit, Whooshh CEO Vincent Bryan III observed helicopters flying overhead with large buckets. They were moving migratory salmon over a dam. Later, Bryan’s business returned to a citrus grove in California that was alive with 50-years old trees the year before, but was now completely dead. It was explained that the irrigation water that fed the orchard had been diverted to save fish.

This would certainly be a shock to the senses: Sacrificing trees for fish. So, Bryan and his company began working on this new fish passage process.

I still believe fish and agriculture can live together. I also checked with Ray Haupt, our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, to see what he thought of this new technology. He said the county has also learned about this new salmon passage alternative and Whooshh Innovation could be the solution. He plans to attend the meeting on Jan. 30^th.

Anyone interested in finding a way to save the Klamath dams and aid salmon numbers is welcome to attend the meeting with Whooshh Innovations.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 # # #