Introduction The headwaters of the Klamath River are fed by snowmelt and rain from the slopes of the southern Cascade Range that flow into the high desert of the Great Basin in Eastern Oregon. The river then travels south through the mountainous, temperate rainforests of the Pacific Coast Range in north-central California, before finally discharging into the Pacific Ocean in coastal California. The Klamath River Basin (KRB) encompasses a total of 5,700 square miles, draining about 17,900 cubic feet per second annually, in an hourglass formation that includes parts of three counties in Oregon and five counties in California (Bureau of Reclamation 2016).The biophysical regions of the KRB vary dramatically from its headwaters to its mouth as it moves from high pressure deserts of sagebrush and juniper to heavily forested mountains and the rainy coast of northern California. The communities living in the basin are as diverse as its climate regions in their cultures and livelihoods, owing to the basins long history of industrial extraction and indigenous subsistence practices, all bound by their reliance on the same sources of water.
Prior to settlement by Euro-Americans, the Klamath
…show more content…
The Klamath Hydroelectric Project is owned by a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway and consists of six hydroelectric dams and one non-hydroelectric dam along the Link River, a feeder stream to Lake Ewauna, the Klamath River’s headwaters (PacifiCorp Power Company 2017). In the early 19th century, dams were constructed without an evaluation of environmental or social impacts. The dams are currently being considered for removal because they have been found to violate the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which provides protection for the Klamath River stock of coho salmon.(Gosnell and Kelly
The Elitsac Manufacturing Company Dam affects 14.08 miles of Wolf Creek (Fish, n.d.). The original purpose of this dam is not documented within the state’s dam inventory, and it is also no longer in service (Dam, n.d.). Another dam on Wolf Creek is Hopkins Mill Dam, which also is out of service. The Hopkins Mill Dam was originally built to generate hydroelectric power and affects 46.58 miles of river (Fish, n.d.).
The one feature common to the Hoover Dam, the Mississippi River and the Three Gorges Dam is that they all try to control nature’s swings, specifically in the form of flooding. Before the Hoover dam was built, the Colorado river “used to flood spectacularly.but after 1900 the Colorado provoked a vehement response” (Pg 177). The response was simple, but large. The U.S. built several large dams, including the Hoover dam, on the Colorado to decrease its flooding and increase power and irrigation. Unfortunately, just as human control of the Colorado’s flooding increased, its organisms and habitats were detrimentally influenced, and the water became more and more salinated.
The positive aspects of ‘Lake’ Powell are few yet noteworthy. Glen Canyon Dam’s hydroelectric power-plant generates one thousand three hundred mega watts of electricity at full operation. That is enough power to supply three hundred fifty thousand homes. Glen Canyon Dam holds twenty seven million acre feet of water, which is equivalent to twice the Colorado River’s annual flow (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss?). One of the most valuable reasons for the dam to remain active is that “Lake Powell generates four hundred fifty five million dollars per year in tourist revenue, without this cash inflow, gas-and-motel towns . . . would undoubtedly wilt, and surrounding counties and states would lose a substantial tax base” (Farmer 185). These positive aspects are of no surprise considering they are the reason dams are built in the first place.
As dams became old and upkeep costs rose many were torn down. This allowed the river to flow freely again and the salmon population increased by 20%. It was discovered that the best way to increase the diminishing salmon population was to simply restore the rivers to their original state. In 2008, a judge ordered for the Columbia and Snake River dams to spill water, allowing the rivers to flow as they would naturally. This water flow allowed the salmon to swim along the currents, as they would have once done
The purpose of this paper is to explain and highlight different aspects of the Powder River Basin to include paleogeography, stratigraphy, maturation history of organic material, vitrinite reflectance data, sulfur content, both historical and current production data, as well as the environmental impact in the basin.
Congress to delete Echo Park Dam from the Colorado River Project in 1955. Other projects
Colorado River Hydrosphere A case study of * River management * People interfering in the hydrosphere * Balancing water from one area to another The Colorado river - basic facts It flows through southwest United States and northwestern Mexico. It is 2334 km (1450 miles long), the longest river west of the Rocky Mountains. Its source is west of the Rocky Mountains which is the watershed in northern Colorado, and, for the first 1600km (1000miles) of its course, passes through a series of deep gorges and canyons that were created by the eroding force of its current. The river flows in a generally southwestern direction across Colorado into south eastern Utah, where it is joined by its chief tributary, The Green River. After crossing the northern portion of Arizona, the Colorado flows west for 436 km (271 miles) through the majestic Grand Canyon.
Riverbank, a large city, has a district with a huge problem. Grant’s Valley, although booming with business, is a quaint and historic part of Riverbank that the residents want to keep that way. The business aspect of Grant’s Valley has an ever growing need for more space for tourists to park and there is just too much traffic for the area to withstand. Riverbank’s historically quaint Grant’s Valley would benefit from the destruction of the unused junior-high on 35th and Princeton and the new construction of a one hundred space parking lot and a new park. This would attract more people and lessen the unattractive curb appeal of the parking lot in the residential area of Grant’s Valley that the residents want
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
The city of Crystal Lake, Illinois is a suburb of Chicago and home to 40,388 residents. Located in southeastern McHenry County, Crystal Lake was named after the picturesque lake situated just over a mile away from downtown. In a recent survey conducted by WalletHub, the city of Crystal Lake was rated 10th best city among the 1,268 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 residents. Addiction problems concern many residents of Crystal Lake, Illinois; top substances of abuse in the area include heroin, marijuana and crack cocaine.
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
People have been drawn to the big and beautiful Columbia River Basin for thousands of years. During the last century, natural resource-based industries supported small, growing communities. Today, people still appreciate the basin's rural flavor and quality of life.
...es the Yosemite Falls and the sequoia trees. One of the state’s problems is the appetite for water. The once fertile Owens valley is now dry and its waters tapped by Los Angeles. In the Imperial Valley, the eradication of water is controlled by the All-American Canal which gets its water from the Colorado River. In Central Valley the poor distribution is the water problem that is an imbalance lessened by the vast Central Valley project. California had cutbacks in federally funded water in the 1970sand 80s which led to California cities buying water from areas that had a surplus of water. But California failed to make a long-term to plan and the federal government stopped the funding of water to the state in 2003. But with all this being said and done, California remains to be a unique state with a lot of entertainment, history, agriculture and a productive economy.
Conflict between residents in northern Nevada and SNWA has risen (Brean, 2015). In 2012 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced its support of SNWA wanting to build a pipeline from rural Nevada to Las Vegas, rural Nevada being primarily in the northern portion of the state (Larsen et al., 2015). Residents including farmers who depend on water for their crops argue that redirecting water supplies would harm the environment and wildlife that inhabit northern Nevada (Brean, 2015). There is also an issue of oversubscription, this is due to the Colorado River not only supplying water to Nevada but neighboring states which include “Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah” (Wockner, 2014). Both Arizona and California are expecting water shortages in the future as they too depend on the Colorado River (Wockner, 2014).
Many people have already dammed a small stream using sticks and mud by the time they become adults. Humans have used dams since early civilization, because four-thousand years ago they became aware that floods and droughts affected their well-being and so they began to build dams to protect themselves from these effects.1 The basic principles of dams still apply today as they did before; a dam must prevent water from being passed. Since then, people have been continuing to build and perfect these structures, not knowing the full intensity of their side effects. The hindering effects of dams on humans and their environment heavily outweigh the beneficial ones.