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rebeccathenaturalist · 4 months

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If you aren't following the news here in the Pacific Northwest, this is a very, very big deal. Our native salmon numbers have been plummeting over the past century and change. First it was due to overfishing by commercial canneries, then the dams went in and slowed the rivers down and blocked the salmons' migratory paths. More recently climate change is warming the water even more than the slower river flows have, and salmon can easily die of overheating in temperatures we would consider comfortable.

Removing the dams will allow the Klamath River and its tributaries to return to their natural states, making them more hospitable to salmon and other native wildlife (the reservoirs created by the dams were full of non-native fish stocked there over the years.) Not only will this help the salmon thrive, but it makes the entire ecosystem in the region more resilient. The nutrients that salmon bring back from their years in the ocean, stored within their flesh and bones, works its way through the surrounding forest and can be traced in plants several miles from the river.

This is also a victory for the Yurok, Karuk, and other indigenous people who have relied on the Klamath for many generations. The salmon aren't just a crucial source of food, but also deeply ingrained in indigenous cultures. It's a small step toward righting one of the many wrongs that indigenous people in the Americas have suffered for centuries.

#salmon #dam removal #fish #animals #wildlife #dams #Klamath River #Klamath dams #restoration ecology #indigenous rights #Yurok Tribe #Karuk Tribe #nature #ecology #environment #conservation #PNW #Pacific Northwest

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reasonsforhope · 5 months

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The Klamath River’s salmon population has declined due to myriad factors, but the biggest culprit is believed to be a series of dams built along the river from 1918 to 1962, cutting off fish migration routes.

Now, after decades of Indigenous advocacy, four of the structures are being demolished as part of the largest dam removal project in United States history. In November, crews finished removing the first of the four dams as part of a push to restore 644 kilometres (400 miles) of fish habitat.

“Dam removal is the largest single step that we can take to restore the Klamath River ecosystem,” [Barry McCovey, a member of the Yurok Tribe and director of tribal fisheries,] told Al Jazeera. “We’re going to see benefits to the ecosystem and then, in turn, to the fishery for decades and decades to come.” ...

A ‘watershed moment’

Four years later, [after a catastrophic fish die-off in 2002,] in 2006, the licence for the hydroelectric dams expired. That created an opportunity, according to Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), a nonprofit founded to oversee the dam removals.

Standards for protecting fisheries had increased since the initial license was issued, and the utility company responsible for the dams faced a choice. It could either upgrade the dams at an economic loss or enter into a settlement agreement that would allow it to operate the dams until they could be demolished.

“A big driver was the economics — knowing that they would have to modify these facilities to bring them up to modern environmental standards,” Bransom explained. “And the economics just didn’t pencil out.”

The utility company chose the settlement. In 2016, the KRRC was created to work with the state governments of California and Oregon to demolish the dams.

Final approval for the deal came in 2022, in what Bransom remembers as a “watershed moment”.

Regulators at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted unanimously to tear down the dams, citing the benefit to the environment as well as to Indigenous tribes...

Tears of joy

Destruction of the first dam — the smallest, known as Copco 2 — began in June, with heavy machinery like excavators tearing down its concrete walls.

[Amy Cordalis, a Yurok Tribe member, fisherwoman and lawyer for the tribe,] was present for the start of the destruction. Bransom had invited her and fellow KRRC board members to visit the bend in the Klamath River where Copco 2 was being removed. She remembers taking his hand as they walked along a gravel ridge towards the water, a vein of blue nestled amid rolling hills.

“And then, there it was,” Cordalis said. “Or there it wasn’t. The dam was gone.”

For the first time in a century, water flowed freely through that area of the river. Cordalis felt like she was seeing her homelands restored.

Tears of joy began to roll down her cheeks. “I just cried so hard because it was so beautiful.”

The experience was also “profound” for Bransom. “It really was literally a jolt of energy that flowed through us,” he said, calling the visit “perhaps one of the most touching, most moving moments in my entire life”.

Demolition on Copco 2 was completed in November, with work starting on the other three dams. The entire project is scheduled to wrap in late 2024.

[A resilient river]

But experts like McCovey say major hurdles remain to restoring the river’s historic salmon population.

Climate change is warming the water. Wildfires and flash floods are contaminating the river with debris. And tiny particles from rubber vehicle tires are washing off roadways and into waterways, where their chemicals can kill fish within hours.

McCovey, however, is optimistic that the dam demolitions will help the river become more resilient.

“Dam removal is one of the best things we can do to help the Klamath basin be ready to handle climate change,” McCovey explained. He added that the river’s uninterrupted flow will also help flush out sediment and improve water quality.

The removal project is not the solution to all the river’s woes, but McCovey believes it’s a start — a step towards rebuilding the reciprocal relationship between the waterway and the Indigenous people who rely on it.

“We do a little bit of work, and then we start to see more salmon, and then maybe we get to eat more salmon, and that starts to help our people heal a little bit,” McCovey said. “And once we start healing, then we’re in a place where we can start to help the ecosystem a little bit more.”"

-via Al Jazeera, December 4, 2023

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wachinyeya · 3 months

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#good news #dams #dam removal #environmentalism #science #environment #nature #salmon #endangered #endangered species #fish #streams and rivers #puyallup river

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hope-for-the-planet · 2 years

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This seems like something positive to share

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-16/endangered-salmon-relocated-to-ancestral-waters

Thank you for sharing this!

California is working on several dam-removal projects, which will allow species like winter-run Chinook salmon to access parts of the river that have been closed off to them for decades.

This will be the first time in 80 years that these salmon have been returned to the McCloud River. The first release of the salmon eggs was a joint endeavor between state and federal wildlife officials and members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.

"As [Caleen Sisk] carried a cupful [of salmon eggs] to the tank, she said she was 'talking to the eggs about their ancestors,' the salmon that swam there long ago. 'And just trying to give them the courage and support,' she said, 'that we’re here for them and we’re going to do the best that we can.'"

#fish conservation #indigenous conservation #river conservation #dam removal #river ecosystems #fish #salmon conservation #salmon #Winnemem Wintu #climate change #conservation #ask #anonymous #submission

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bumblebeeappletree · 3 months

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Ten years after the largest dam removal in history—on the Elwha River, in Washington State—scientists are chronicling an inspiring story of ecological rebirth. Recovering salmon populations are transferring critical nutrients from the ocean into the forests along the Elwha’s banks, enriching the entire ecosystem. The Elwha’s revival is encouraging advocates to push for the removal of many larger dams in the region, and in the rest of the world.

#Nature on PBS #wild hope #solarpunk #tidalpunk #rewilding #dam removal #river #salmon #Elwha River #Elwha #Washington #USA #indigenous #native species #Youtube

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vampirechatroom · 1 year

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fuck the lower four snake river dams, all my homies hate the lower four snake river dams

#dam removal #ecoanarchy #river restoration #ahhhhhhhhhhh

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rjzimmerman · 2 years

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Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

Two top Democrats in Washington State have come out in favor of eventually breaching four hydroelectric dams in the lower Snake River to try to save endangered salmon runs, a contentious option that environmentalists, tribes and business groups in the region have argued over for decades.

In recommendations issued on Thursday, Senator Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee provided their most definitive stance in the fight to save salmon in the Columbia River basin and honor longstanding treaties with tribal nations in the Pacific Northwest.

A draft version of a study that Ms. Murray and Mr. Inslee commissioned found this summer that removing the four dams was the most promising approach to salmon recovery. The report said it would cost $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion to replace the electricity generated by the dams, find other ways to ship grain from the region and provide irrigation water. But the draft stopped short of taking a position on removing the dams.

In the recommendations, the governor and the senator said that breaching the dams “must be an option we strive to make viable.”

Ms. Murray said in a statement that salmon runs were clearly struggling, and that extinction of the region’s salmon was not an option. But because breaching the dams would need congressional authorization and bipartisan support, she said, there had to be credible possibilities for replacing renewable energy sources, keeping shipping costs down and countering the effects of climate change.

“It’s clear that breach is not an option right now,” Ms. Murray said. “While many mitigation measures exist, many require further analysis or are not possible to implement in the near term.”

Washington State relies heavily on hydroelectric power generated through dams. But the structures have contributed to the depletion of the salmon population, which is critical to the river basin’s ecosystem. In 2019, state lawmakers passed some of the country’s strongest clean energy legislation, committing to cut coal power by 2025 and transition the state to 100 percent clean and renewable electricity by 2045. Removing the dams would make it more challenging to meet those goals.

#State of Washington #hydroelectric power #dams #salmon #Snake River #dam removal

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prokyon · 13 days

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Exciting update from the Dam Removal Europe movement - they removed 487 barriers last year in 15 countries! Here's the 2023 report.

They even awarded a team from Portugal for their project to remove Vaquerios Weir, and, "following the removal completion, the Minister for Environment and Climate Action announced the initiation of a National Program for the Removal of Obsolete Barriers."

I first found out about Dam Removal Europe when I watched the Free Flow webinar 2 presented by the World Fish Migration Foundation and Wetlands International, and was super stoked to learn that there are coalitions in Europe dedicated to such ambitious ecosystem restoration.

Removing obsolete barriers and making the ones left as water-friendly as possible is essential to keeping the international ecosystems and hydrological processes of Europe and its neighbours healthy, biodiverse, and adaptable to climate change.

#free flow #dam removal europe #dam removal #conservation #river restoration #environmental activism

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mossandfog · 4 months

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The Klamath River is Free Flowing for the First Time in 100 years

Dams and hydropower are a key part of renewable energy in many parts of the world. But many rivers have seen major degradation of their environment due to rivers being dammed. Recently, the largest US dam removal project took place, allowing the 257-mile Klamath river in Oregon and norther California to flow freely. The removal of four dams from the Klamath River, which spans parts of Oregon and…

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#dam removal #Klamath River #river health #watershed

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my-lifes-reward · 5 months

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Paddling the Muskegon River - North End Riverside Park to River Bend Bluff

This video is paddling the Muskegon River from North End Riverside Park to River Bend Bluff. The day was overcast with mild temperatures. This portion of the river goes through the heart of Big Rapids.

This video is paddling the Muskegon River from North End Riverside Park to River Bend Bluff. The day was overcast with mild temperatures. This portion of the river goes through the heart of Big Rapids. During this paddle, we pass by the site of the Big Rapids Dam now removed. Also, we paddle into the turbulent waters that I am calling the whirlpool at the River Walk foot bridge near the Big…

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#big rapids #big rapids dam #dam removal #drowning #highbanks park #muskegon river #north end riverside park #river walk

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rebeccathenaturalist · 2 months

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There's been a recent increase in the removal of old dams and other barriers on salmon streams on the west coast of the U.S. While last year's removal of part a weir from McKay Creek wasn't as dramatic as the removal of dams on the Klamath River, the results of the removal are very promising.

The weir was installed about thirty years ago due to the creek being drained by a nearby reservoir. Unfortunately, its design meant that salmon could no longer go higher up the creek to their historic breeding grounds.

The power of nature's resiliency--if we give it the chance to recover--was evident in the fact that this past February saw the return of the salmon to the creek for the first time in three decades. What's even more exciting is that scientists found not just a few redds (salmon egg nests), but seventy-two of them in a six mile stretch of the creek above the weir! That's incredibly impressive, considering how long salmon were blocked from that area.

Here's to more projects like these giving our salmon a fighting chance for survival in spite of everything we've thrown at them over the years.

#salmon #fish #fishblr #icthyology #aquatic ecosystems #dams #dam removal #conservation #environment #environmentalism #habitat restoration #endangered species #extinction #wildlife #animals #nature #ecology\#restoration ecology

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reasonsforhope · 1 year

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"At least 239 barriers, including dams and weirs, were removed across 17 countries in Europe in 2021, in a record-breaking year for dam removals across the continent.

Spain led the way, with 108 structures taken out of the country’s rivers. “Our efforts to expand dam removals across Europe are gathering speed,” said Pao Fernández Garrido, project manager for the World Fish Migration Foundation, who helped produce Dam Removal Europe’s annual report.

“An increasing number of governments, NGOs, companies and communities are understanding the importance of halting and reversing nature loss, and buying into the fact that dam removal is a river-restoration tool that boosts biodiversity and enhances climate resilience. We’re also seeing lessons being learned from previous dam removals, new countries kickstarting removals, and new funds, including crowdfunding.”

More than 1m barriers are estimated to exist on Europe’s rivers, with many built more than a century ago. At least 150,000 are old, obsolete barriers that serve no economic purpose.

Dams, weirs and other river obstacles block fish migration routes, often leading to the loss of breeding areas and reduced numbers of species such as salmon, sturgeon, trout and eel, which affects the wider biodiversity of ecosystems, including species ranging from eagles to otters. Free-flowing rivers also transport sediments and nutrients.

Pictured: Before-and-after shots of a dam removal on a river in Parc naturel régional du Haut-Jura, France, in 2021.

“Removing dams is a real need,” said Fernández Garrido. “We have hundreds of thousands of abandoned barriers, which is a safety problem. Dams affect water quality and underground water levels, cause channel and coastal erosion and beach disappearances, generate greenhouse gas emissions and lead to declines and even extinctions of migratory fish populations, with a 93% decline of migratory fish in Europe in the last 50 years. Dams have a negative impact on the environment, so if a dam or weir isn’t strictly necessary any more, we mustn’t pass the burden to future generations.”

Dam Removal Europe is a coalition of seven organisations, including the World Fish Migration Foundation, WWF, the Rivers Trust and Rewilding Europe, working to restore healthy, free-flowing rivers across the continent. The latest report found that 76% of the removals were of small dams and weirs, but 24% were higher than 2 metres. Three countries – Portugal, Montenegro, and Slovakia – recorded their first ever dam removals in 2021. In Finland, a functioning hydropower dam was also dismantled, the first of three on the Hiitolanjoki River, which, when completed, is expected to allow landlocked salmon to return to spawning grounds.

Pictured: The Cantabrian River Basin Authority in Spain removed 50 barriers in 2021. Photograph: CRBA

“This is the perfect example to show that when an operating hydropower dam isn’t needed, and energy can be supplied by other sources, it’s worth removing it and recovering the river,” said Fernández Garrido. “The river will be totally free of dams for the first time in over 120 years.” ...

Fernández Garrido continued, “We really want to see governments from all countries taking action and creating national grants and plans to completely free some of their rivers from obstacles, so there is, at least, a free and healthy river per country. We’re talking about creating a big shift.”"

-via The Guardian (US), 5/15/22

#spain #europe #dam removal #rivers #riparian #rewilding #conservation #wilderness restoration #salmon #fish #ecosystem restoration #good news #hope

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wachinyeya · 8 months

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#good news #science #nature #environmentalism #environment #dam removal #klamath river #native plants #indigenous #conservation #restoration

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hope-for-the-planet · 2 years

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This seems like good news

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/California-dam-removal-17187703.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

Thanks for sharing this!

This project will remove four dams from the Klamath River and two from the Eel River.

Many of these dams were built before many modern requirements, such as fish passage, were in place. It was determined to be better for the local environment--and, in many cases, significantly cheaper--to demolish the dams rather than make the required modifications.

This joint project between corporations, government, and local tribes will be a boost to local fish populations and habitats that depend on these rivers.

Note: The article linked in the original ask was replaced with a different article covering the same story that is not behind a paywall.

#dam #fish conservation #dam removal #river conservation #indigenous conservation #good news #hope #habitat #biodiversity #conservation #submission #news #ask

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llewelynpritch · 10 months

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https://lnkd.in/e7fJkt-Y

https://lnkd.in/e96rw6tr EVERYBODY ACT NOW! XR HUMANITY’S EMERGENCY SERVICES SOCIAL, CLIMATE JUSTICE LOCAL, STOP THE ROT - FREE RESOURCES UPDATED 31 July 2023

#xr #extinction rebellion #act now xr humanity's emergency services social climate justice local #end fossil fuels #end all fossil fuels #remove methane hydro dams #free rivers #repair natures arteries #repair biodiversity #restore nature #dam removal #fund nature #protect nature

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cybernightart · 9 months

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How I imagine Genji under his armour + head cannons!

(slight nudity warning? He still has boxers on but you know...nothing else... anyways heads up)

(Also I drew him in boxer shorts cuz I didn't want him to be naked 👌)

Since the paper is hard to read(also I added more info) here is what each blurb says corisponding to the number:

1. Cybernetic built in to his brain

2. Cybernetic spine

3.face scars from Swiss explosion so mainly just around the eyes and lower face

4.synthetic voicebox

5. Perma tanlines from his blackwatch outfit

6. prosthetic / cybernetic legs start just above the knee

7. Arm chopped off here (mid bicep)

8. Cybernetic brain implant

9. Cybernetic spine (I picture one reason he couldn't walk after he as saved was because Hanzo accidentally broke genji's back during the fight, or of the the OverWatch rescue team may have dropped him while transporting him to the dropship, no one knows! And Genji was so out of it at that point between the bloodless, shock, and the instant pain killers he was given when they realised he was alive, that he can't remember for the life of him what happened, but he doesn't remember Hanzo breaking his back at any point. Which says alot considering he remembers getting stabbed through his neck but not that ...hmmm 🤔)

10. He had more stuff fixed internally, both cybernetic and not, but they're not visible on the surface for the most part

*This is the bare minimum, he normally wears a lot more of his armor on a day to day basis, even when going to bed. This is strictly the bear minimum.

Additional stuff I didn't write on the paper:

.The shoes are a part of the legs but he can detach them and put on different feet(for like if he needs to wear dress shoes or something he has a different kind of feet taking attached that would actually fit into the shoe instead of trying to put a shoe on another shoe) you can also change out the entire cybernetic legs for the most part except for parts that physically connect to his human body which are inside of the cybernetic legs so you can't see it

. Same thing goes for his arm, where he has interchangeable arms, 90% of which also have the Shuriken reloading thing, but he does have one or two that don't energize more everyday non-ninja cybernetic arms. Also so he can change his arm to go with his different armor, because this man builds his cosplays around the fact she has no idea when he's going to be called out to a mission so they all have to be battle ready.

. In my design for current Genji his scars have faded to a much lighter color, still quite prominently they are noticeable but they've healed a lot more and aren't as prominent as they used to be

. He also has little divots in his ears from all his piercings that he got in his youth, which she can't wear most of the time because it wouldn't really be safe with his helmet in battle, but when he isn't wearing his helmet he quite often puts his earrings back in

. Also he's kind of forced to have an under cut now due to the cybernetics. After black watch when he changed into his OverWatch 1 armor, you would just completely both his hair so he wouldn't have to deal with it and it was the least amount of maintenance option, it wasn't until he was with Zen that he started growing his hair out again and with Zen's help (a lot of googling on Zen's part acting like he knows what he's doing) he learned to cut his own hair, and eventually he redyed it green on top

. I like to imagine the red glowing in his eyes wasn't actually the cybernetics it was his dragon, which had a constant red hue to them during black watch most evidently and basically until he started making progress with Zen. Because him and his dragons rage was manifesting into his eyes constantly glowing but because he was constantly in a state of fight or flight and was essentially just surviving until zen helped him start living again, in which his eyes stopped glowing. That is unless he gets really emotional (primarily anger) or very protective, where they'll glow bright green unless he's really really pissed, then they'll be red again...but that almost never happens because he has a much better control of his emotions now, but every now and again his good old Shimada family anger issues can creep up on him a little

Feel free to leave thoughts and opinions, this is just how I see him but I'm more then willing to listen to others opinions on it!

#this was highly requested between the 3 ideas i gave #im still developing my design for him but i like where im going with it #overwatch #overwatch 2 #genji #genji shimada #art #my art #he also has a back tattoo that i completely forgot about #alao pre stabby stabby his right arm was fully done #but he umm...got drastic tattoo removal surgery lets say #with a katana #also random thing but i love how curvy genji's back is #it makes his tummy and butt stick out a little #hes just like me fr #additionally for the drawing i referenced the happi genji concept art and GOD DAM HES CURVY #he has a full hourglass figure and honestly im here for it!

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