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Commentary: Dammed crazy – What do California’s water woes teach us?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 3, 2009 at 7:03 am

From Lori Pottinger at the Huffington Post, this commentary:

“California is schizophrenic when it comes to water.

In the past week, we Californians have been bombarded with news about our troubled water system, good and bad.

The most encouraging news comes from the northern part of the state, where a deal has finally been struck to remove four very destructive dams on the Klamath. The river once supported the state’s second biggest salmon run. This will be the world’s biggest dam-removal project.

Just days before, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on the brewing water war over the Governor’s plans to spend $3.7 billion to build new dams. California already has more than 1,000 dams, many of which – like those on the Klamath – are at the heart of our current problems with dying deltas, sinking land, costly levee repairs, and devastated fisheries.

Water conservation expert Peter Gleick says the proposed new dams will bring only a marginal improvement in water reliability, and aren’t worth the economic and environmental costs. His Pacific Institute has produced plans for saving large amounts of water in agriculture and cities, which would make the dams unnecessary. …”

Read more from the Huffington Post by clicking here.

October 3, 2009 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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