KRRC contractors dumping hundreds of tons of polluting sediments into Jenny Creek, which empties into the Klamath River. (Photo: Bieke Lieckens)
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, April 10, 2024 5:15 pm
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
“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!
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I feel like the story lacks an introduction and an overview to what is going on. Those close to this human-induced nightmare would know the ramifications of this. It sounds like someone with knowledge and position is alerting the decision makers that going through with removing the Iron Gate dam is not such a great idea. But I do not know if this is a victory for those who prefer not to see the dams removed or just a puff of smoke that will disappear.
I agree it was very poorly written.
What do you expect from a guy who says he studies native American horses. I guess they forgot to tell him that the horse originally was here but they left on the land bridges to the rest of the world thousands of years ago and what was left died out and went extinct. The ones he studies were brought here by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers and/or escaped from ranches afterwards. That means they are not native.
First thing I thought of when looking at credentials.
Hey sir I have always understood that they were a smaller slightly different species, And were hunted to extinction by the Natives?
Look for the money trail maybe not immediately but it there some where. Dang your greedy souls.
Residents DID NOT want dams removed and other interest group that spoke out loudly.
Environmental studies done correctly n appropriately, kiss my grits. Not to mention that some of the people in our own USA government will give out monies to study ticks lying on their back n still get fat, & that has double meaning. just remember now the taxpayers will have to pay for recovery of that environment (if that ain’t that double dipping). God help you all, you will have to answer for all this to our Father in heaven. I could go on, but what’s the sense, you all are tagged already. Like one of those comedians “Here is your sign”
your anger and obvious bias obviate ⁸any argument you are trying to make. so kiss my grits.
Well dams don’t last forever. If not removed, it will eventually fail. So the idea that it can’t be safely removed isn’t acceptable. It will have to be removed eventually. Might as well figure that out now.
The problem isn’t the dam, the first test of the clay in the bottom of the lake came back as toxic, and they would of had to haul it all away and would of cost $1billon. So, they said test the clay again, and magically it came back as nontoxic so they let it all go down stream and it been a disaster.
That’s how our crooked government works!
They had better get the toxicity issue ironed out with lost of samples, duplicates and whatever quality control they need so they get this right or all for naught!
AMEN. Figure it out now. Get the job done. Men have been destroying creation for centuries because of selfish desires. Put the river back the way God created it. Stop playing God before you totally destroy everything.
This all started because men played God. Figure it out, get the job done. Put the river back the way God intended.
put the river back the way it was created. it seems everything we do tends to diminish our possibility of propagation because we’re destroying our food source. we need the fish back in the rivers.
Brad,
Have you studied any of the dams in Europe?
It could make you eat your words.
This is indeed a victory for those who did not want to see the dams removed in the first place. Considering the entire project was sold on a great lie, and that lie being the introduction of salmon to Upper Klamath Lake, which has never had salmon in the upper lake ever. Everybody who has studied the environmental reports and the construction logs from the original damn builder knows that there is a 40 plus foot tall lava dam on the inside portion of the lake just mere feet from the existing damn itself. I know salmon are good jumpers but I guarantee there’s not salmon alive ever that’s been able to clear 40-foot lava dam. I feel that those responsible for perpetuating this lie about salmon existence in the Upper Lake should be made to pay for the damage that’s been done not only to the property values for the homeowners at Copco Lake, but the tens of millions of dollars wasted in destroyed wildlife, the loss of hundreds of thousands of juvenile coho salmon and the environmental catastrophe that’s now unfolding before our very eyes downstream for the communities that will be greatly affected by this catastrophe for years if not decades to come.
Here here! I love how the insurance industry was one of the lynch pins…whatever…glad it finally happened…but what else can you expect this State full of stupid!
Very well said. It’s nice to read something intelligent. Not based on emotions.
You are Absolutely correct.. I fished the river above the J C Boyle an could see logs on end after they went over the natural 40 foot waterfall. In having worked with the national fisheries on dams and fish ladders it has been proven in actual tests that salmon CANNOT jump over a 40 foot waterfall..So much for the myth of salmon in upper Klamath Lake
plug the hole and fill the lake back up. then SUE everyone that was involved in the project, including Oregon & California Governors.
I’m with you on that idea!!!
why can’t they just open the gates and leave the dams there? someday they will be needed.To say the indigenous people need this..not one remembers when yhey depended upon the salmon
there’ll be no gravel beds for salmon to spawn. all the silt that was in the lake behind the dam is now covered the whole river bottom with silt there is no gravel. oh well who gives a shit the Greenies got their way, and fucked up the Klamath River for a long time. good day
That’s what I wondered. Probably less money for all the crooks in this debaucle.
Your remarks are silliness. Three Main Tribes along the Klamath have subsisted from Salmon runs since we could run across the River on the Heads of the Salmon. We are Salmon and Acorn People.!! Most Californians and Oregonians are clueless to the affect s the dams have had on our people and the River. Let’s have knowledge and accuracy before we profess ourselves as egotistical fools
why are the news channels in pdx not picking up on this info. are they afraid?
Doesn’t follow the Libtard narrative
well said Bill
government workers are just a bunch of fat cackling hens. they need to stop cackling and find a resolution to the problem. we all know there is one. just get it done. or should we bring in the Chinese to do it for us.
Thank you for this exceptional article. It really speaks to so many things involved in this situation. Please keep working in this area. The story needs so much light to be put on it, not to be swept under the rug with reports of recovery and regrowth like so many sources are ALL about. Thank you.
I thought the Chinese already owned everything West of the Rockies?
during my long career in the forest service alone the Klamath River, Ocean over fishing was determined to be the primary threat/limiting factor to salmon populations. however, habitat and riverine environments provided anti development/anti agriculture interests with more leverage. I hope they follow up with well publicized results from this project in the future. it’s a boondoggle.
Not Rocket Science. pump lakes down behind damn dams with diversion structure up stream. Remove dam.
Fill in the blanks.
Nope not rocket science buuuutt pumping down a lake with all the sediment built up behind the dam. what are you going to do with it? What about the river where are you going to direct it to? It will need to be dug out and to do that it will need to dry up. Have you ever seen digging equipment in 20 to 30 feet of mud before?
I new this would be a problem. As the engineer stated drilling through the earth and gravel overburden of the dam into the clay will allow water to escape from the clay and breach the dams catastrophically. not to mention all of the crap in the sediment upstream of the dams. there is already a black plume 2 miles out to sea from the mouth of the Klamath River. The fish are dead, seals and otters have either died or left the area. Deer being shot by F&G after getting stuck in the mud. Now all we need is a really big mega storm and the whole mess will get so much worse. failed bridges due to lack of flood control. no access , people will die.
what moron builds a house or okays a subdivision or two in an area that’s going to be directly impacted by a damn collapse in a seismically active area?
takes an even bigger idiot to buy a house like that.
Ummm most of California.
Lmfao!!!
Greenys gone…bad!!
It is another fiasco. WHY didn’t anyone stop them after the mess they left at John Boyle and Copco. What the heck was the logic behind killing wild horses, deer, and all the other animals looking for water! The impact on the towns like Keno OR that depend on the tourists. The historical land sites wiped out. And now wells being poisoned. Great research on all the downfalls of taking the darn dams out!
Nothing new for the liberal states of California and Oregon . It’s in the ocean why the salmon are disappearing not all of the bogus studies the PHD people put out .All of it at the expense of the taxpayers. No surprise here . Bend over taxpayers you’re getting it without lubrication this time.
Great article but what does it mean??? Why are other news agencies not picking up on this??? Has Kiewet pulled out of removing Iron Gate Dam or just a pause??? Why is KRRC not updating us on dam removal events??? What the hell is going on???
Liberalisim is a mental disorder. Why would ANYONE support destroying what took so long to build. Have a good time in your tent city with no electricity…
would you care to elaborate as to why you make a conjectural statement based on no facts whatsoever? sounds like circular reasoning which is a poor excuse for a lack of facts in stating your objection to removing the dam. if you make an allegation such as liberalism is a mental health disorder, you owe it to the people who are reading your response to provide examples and facts. if you can’t do that, then perhaps you should remove your comment.
All dams are boondoggles.
perhaps lowering lake diverting river and removing dam adds years to cost. adds cost to plan ,adds frustration to residences. whatever man does in nature causes ripples. engineers as well as contractors,insurers all in game to avoid lawsuits anymore . it’s not that it can’t be done. it can be done the way they were going to do it,cheaply!
Thank you for your reporting on this issue
Maybe you should opt for fish ladders instead of completely removing dams. Just an idea.
I was thinking the same thing
This is the only local article I’ve seen about the dam removals but from Chicago I have one recommendation if you’d like to know more about a small stretch of the Klamath River in the early 1900s. There is a book entitled In the Land of the Grasshopper Song. It is a remarkable story about life.
take them out we pump water out of lakes and rivers every day you just got to pay the man for his work it’s just a money thing you know that
The people who want the dams removed, now, are idiots. So much more can be said on the subject, but my first sentence sums it up.
people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
this story is deliberate misinformation click bait. the truth is that a drilling portion of the contract will not proceed but dam removal will continue on schedule.
yes I agree. It takes a lot of education to be stupid. You can’t teach common sense it is learned through experience and it sounds as if
powers at did not have the common sense to listen to the people.
whoa there, been in and around heavy construction my career 40 years. I read about this project for years and honestly I’m good with it, so pile on, but if anyone thought this would be seamless and fun…sorry. highways, bridges, power generation never comes in under budget or “as designed.”. screw the alfalfa farmers, lakefront property owners, horse ranchers etc. this is likely a liability/insurance issue based on erroneous data and PKS had a bid with a certain risk factor, wrong info, so they’re protecting their ass. cool. as for ocean issues mean no fish…BS. If fish could spawn in Columbia tributaries we’d have cheap salmon vs subsidizing fat cat farmers in Idaho and Washington with cheap water and transport. cripes…quit whining and engineer a solution, like low water diversion with a full on removal. silt issue? no s–t, put a suction dredge downstream, remember St Helens and Toutle river? sucked sediment FOR YEARS!
My theory is there’s gold in that there lava darn, an that the salmon can’t get over, and the good old boys that own the property want to get to it at our expense!! Wait and see!
Seems like very biased journalism in this story. what I don’t understand is how come there’s no way to empty the reservoir before removing the dam. the author mentions that clay becomes super saturated and in that state it’s dangerous or excessively risky to remove or demolish the dam. if that is the case then why is there no way to empty the reservoir and then demolish the dam?
That’s exactly what already happened!
This is just bad journalism. The article takes things horribly out of context and misrepresents reality. I work on projects like this and these sorts of letters with FERC are par for the course. The Koshy letter has nothing to do with the current plan, either. Again, out of context. Nothing to see here folks, move along (as the dam removals will).
why not dredge the front of the dam. create
temporary tailing ponds. let them settle until ready to use floating pumps to return filterd water to river. wash rinse repeat. until safe enough to decommision the dam with out excess silt
This morning’s Daily Digest included this story from the California Globe, stating that Kiewit had pulled out of the Klamath Dam removal project. I have just received this email from Ren Brownell with the Klamath River Renewal Corporation:
“The assertion made in the California Globe and Siskiyou News articles that our contractor has left the project is wholly inaccurate. Kiewit chose not to implement an exploratory drilling program that they had previously proposed, and FERC was simply acknowledging this in the letter. There are no delays to the project as a result.
The letters back and forth between the KRRC and FERC that they are referencing are part of FERC’s ongoing review of our removal plans for various components of Iron Gate dam. These reviews are routine. We provide updated plans responsive to Board of Consultants and FERC comments on earlier plans and we iterate until we have approval. We will make a filing with FERC in late April requesting final approval for the removal of Iron Gate dam, in the hopes of beginning around mid-May, though it is weather dependent.
The articles also reference a 2012 letter from Stephen Koshy, that asserts that dam removal would be catastrophic. The statements in the letter are technically incorrect. It states that the clay core is fully saturated which is not the case. The reality is that clay was placed within the dam to provide an impermeable watertight barrier from the upstream water surface to the downstream dam face. We will take the dam out in horizontal layers from the dam crest down to the foundation. The clay core will remain confined as the dam removal advances through each phase.
Bottom line, everything is still on schedule – FERC’s feedback is a part of the process, and our contractors are ramping up for the complete removal of the remaining three dams.“
Thank-you, E Willis, for explaining the situation so well.
so many conservative dumb asses commenting on something they know nothing about. E Willis comment would explain things to the ill informed.
I doubt that any of the named “honorables” are honorable at all; for certain the governors of California and Oregon are not!
Wow, personally I think that the removal of a couple would be acceptable. To remove all would be a catastrophe. Which it’s turned out to be. it’s common sense to know that the lowest damn will retain the greatest amount of silt and erosional debris.
if it is determined that the lower dam should be deflated I believe that a common sense approach should be implemented.
It should not be in a rapid deflation. it should take place over 4 or 5 years to accomplish.
People, this is seriously detrimental to down stream flowing. Primarily to lower elevation ground water let alone the living critters with in the aquarium of life that still exists.
Love all,
Billy Brummett
Brad,
Have you studied any of the dams in Europe?
It could make you eat your words.
Elec engineer here and if this is a reputable and experienced engineer, which it appears he checks both, I’d definitely pump brakes and request a 3rd party peer review unless it can be worked out with him. Something this consequential and of this magnificent scale, interstate, interagency, SHOULD HAVE absolutely been peer reviewed for engineering calculations / loads / geo / etc. All applicable fields in their trade that would be critical to the removal.
Not long ago I came across this video on YT of Marti Group “Ritom Project” and it had me speechless at the insanity of the engineering involved and the multifaceted approach to every challenge they came across having to drill a tunnel through a mountain for the hydro plant. These guys are a FEAT and from the stuff I’ve seen them overcome, in a timely manner, using their own custom cements injected into the open fissures that groundwater was threatening to collapse the tunnel. It’s around the 6:30 mark of this vid. The year+ of comments speak to my same tone. https://youtu.be/6AV2NcyX7pk
uummmm… can we say now… this is the biggest mistake in dam removal history? been saying that since day one of this removal discussion. what are the removal proponents saying now? happily waiting with open ears. bring it on people.
if the dams were the main issue with fish runs then why are all the columbia river tributaries below bonneville dam
a faint shadow of what they were as well as all the other oregon costal rivers. the problem is foreign overfishing at sea .