In the Summer 2016 issue of the Water Education Foundation’s Western Water, Writer Gary Pitzer delves into the issue of site-specific decisions to remove dams because they are obsolete – choked by accumulated sediment, seismically vulnerable and out of compliance with federal regulations that require environmental balance.

As Pitzer writes, many dams, especially the large, rim dams at the base of most major river systems in California, serve a vital purpose – storing water that is used to irrigate farms and drinking water to millions of people as well as providing critical flood protection. No one is talking about removing the rim dams. In other locations across the West, however,  some dam owners have determined that the cost of removal is less expensive than effecting the necessary modifications such as fish ladders or seismic safety retrofits

The article discusses the renewed effort to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, explores the process to demolish San Clemente Dam, and looks at ongoing discussions of removing two dams with silted-up reservoirs in Southern California. 

Click here to read the excerpt from this issue.