Comments to keep our four dams 

I realize that our nation will soon need additional energy sources to power our electric age in order to accommodate our ever growing population. And I also realize that each State in the Union has been challenged to come up with new forms of power to meet that need, but I for the life of me cannot comprehend why hydro-power has been seen as a pariah in this environment when it should be viewed as an asset.

The recent proposal to remove our four dams in Siskiyou County on the ruse that it will improve our salmon population is short sighted, unscientific, ecologically unsound and will create exactly the opposite situation to what it proposes.

The reality is the salmon spawning gravel will be covered with silt, salmon eggs will suffocate from lack of oxygen and the silt will ultimately affect the Klamath River all the way to the mouth of the river and as a result the estuary will suffer and this will directly affect the ocean. The salmon population as a result will diminish significantly and it will take years for the salmon population to be re-established if it ever comes back to its former quotas.

In the meantime, our wild, native, trout, perch, catfish, crappie, craw dads, and minnows, that inhabit Copco Lake and Iron Gate will die as a result of dam removal. I think it is time for Siskiyou County as a whole to realize what is at stake here and it is time for all of us to become extremely vocal on the subject that we want our fish, our wildlife, and our dams intact.

Your children, and my children, our grandchildren, our young and our old, deserve an opportunity to have two lakes in which to fish and an opportunity to see wildlife that is thriving. Here at Copco Lake our white pelicans are beautiful, graceful and plentiful, our geese and ducks are a sight to behold, and our deer stroll through our community freely. If our dams are breached all of this beautiful, serene environment will be a thing of the past and Siskiyou County will have its most valuable resource, tourism, and recreation resulting in diminished tax revenue.

The time for Siskiyou County to make its voice heard loud and clear is now. It will be too late when Congress votes to remove our dams. Ask our president and congress to say NO on the Restoration Agreement. Let them know we have a voice and we want their support.

 

Let the State Water Resource Board know that we need Pacific Power, we need them to be re-licensed, we need our clean, green, cheap, electric power, we need our dams. We need your help.