Letter: Samuel Strait Crescent City

Dear Editor: While I greatly appreciate the effort that Mr. Creager made in the July 27 Triplicate, “It’s the reservoirs that promote algae,” he goes on to create the scenario that if the four Klamath River Dams are removed, it will solve all of the river’s problems.

Of course, given the fact that much of the past 10 years or more of “science” regarding dam removal has been roundly disputed by a number of reputable scientists, I will leave that to be bandied about by people with more expertise than I.

What I see in most proponents of dam removal is the failure to answer a couple of important questions.

Over the past 20 years or so, there have been quite a few dams removed (in the hundreds, I’m told) on West Coast rivers, yet the numbers of adult salmon returning to the rivers continue to decline.

If all it takes is restoring water quality to the Klamath River, which is something that the actual level of water restoration is clearly disputed by dam removal, why haven’t other rivers on the West Coast experienced the fish population restoration that clearly was expected following the removal of their dams?

Finally, I tip my cap for making algae seem like a vital issue for public health during low-water times in the Klamath River; but August and September maybe, certainly not for six months.

There are far more important issues to be resolved in California that could use that $450 million than problematic Klamath River restoration by dam removal.