Newsom is using almost $400 million from a California water bond measure not to build facilities but to tear down dams—with no replacements. As expected, he is also harming the salmon and other fish he claimed he was helping.
“In the concluding paragraph of the April 9th Letter from FERC to KRRC, FERC said:
“We cannot authorize the Iron Gate Dam removal at this time based on the above comments.”
Maybe the engineering report from Stephen Koshy about the dangers of decommissioning a “clay-core” dam might have finally come to light, and may have some folks worried! It would make sense that the insurance underwriters on this project are starting to get really nervous about this ill-fated project.
And I am certain that the states of California and Oregon need to be worried, since they are on the hook for all cost over-runs as well as liabilities on the Klamath Dam Removal project, according to an order by FERC.”
We are losing money, losing water, losing energy and killing fish—Newsom should use this as his environmental platform for his Presidential run. Now you know why California is collapsing.
Trouble In Dam Removal Paradise – Kiewit Has Pulled-Out of Klamath River Dam Project
April 9 Letter from FERC to KRRC, ‘… Kiewit has aborted the Iron Gate Development drilling program in its entirety…’
By William Simpson, California Globe, 4/10/24 https://californiaglobe.com/uncategorized/trouble-in-dam-removal-paradise-kiewit-has-pulled-out-of-klamath-river-dam-project/
This is part of a series about the Klamath Dam Removal project in
Siskiyou County.
The removal of dams along the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, Northern California was sold as necessary to save salmon – specifically, “to restore habitat for endangered fish.”
The dams are part of the Klamath project, a series of seven dams built in the 1910’s and 1920’s in the Klamath Basin to bring electricity and agricultural water mitigation for Southern Oregon and Northern California, the Globe reported in 2020. However, in recent years, concerns over the dams’ effect on the wildlife and fishing industry have been raised, especially regarding claims of fish facing extinction because the dams.
According to an April 9th Letter from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to Klamath River Renewal Corporation, “… Kiewit has aborted the Iron Gate Development drilling program in its entirety…”
An old NASA phrase comes to mind… Houston, we have a problem!
In a letter dated April 9, 2024 from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (‘FERC’), Office of Energy Projects to Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (‘KRRC’), FERC stated the following in Item 6 of their Letter (attached PDF):
6. According to Mr. Sean Iiams’ March 27, 2024 email to Ms. Elisabeth Jacquot-Matt of this office, Kiewit has aborted the Iron Gate Development drilling program in its entirety negating the requirement for the DPP. Therefore, we will not provide comments on the DPP. We remind you that you may not proceed with exploratory drilling in any of the project embankments without prior authorization from this office
In the concluding paragraph of the April 9th Letter from FERC to KRRC, FERC said:
“We cannot authorize the Iron Gate Dam removal at this time based on the above comments.”
Maybe the engineering report from Stephen Koshy about the dangers of decommissioning a “clay-core” dam might have finally come to light, and may have some folks worried! It would make sense that the insurance underwriters on this project are starting to get really nervous about this ill-fated project.
And I am certain that the states of California and Oregon need to be worried, since they are on the hook for all cost over-runs as well as liabilities on the Klamath Dam Removal project, according to an order by FERC.
Earthen dam engineer Stephen Koshy has written a Letter (attached PDF) to FERC and other agencies offering a grave warning. Maybe the insurance underwriters for project contractor Kiewit have new concerns?
(Please Note: It seems that Google and or some cooperating agencies have disabled and scrubbed links to the Koshy Letter that is attached to this article as a PDF)… WHY?
Here is an excerpt from dam engineer Stephen Koshy’s Letter (attached PDF) to various agencies and the County of Siskiyou CA:
And:
In the forgoing dam collapse scenario, over a million tons of mud-gravel and rock debris would move down the Klamath River covering the river bank and properties, including homes. The loss of life would be significant!
