WASHINGTON D.C.: In the largest dam removal undertaking in U.S. history, a U.S. agency last week approved the decommissioning of four dams straddling the California-Oregon border, which is expected to improve the health of the Klamath River.
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, seeking to restore habitat for endangered fish, issued an order surrendering the dam licenses and approving removal of the dams.
The river is the route that Chinook salmon and endangered coho salmon take from the Pacific Ocean to their upstream spawning grounds, and from where the young fish return to the sea.
The dams on federal land, which at full capacity provide enough electricity for 70,000 homes, will be surrendered by power utility PacifiCorp, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
