A on the California WaterBlog run by the 澳门六合彩开奖结果走势图 takes a look at the state鈥檚 almost 1600 dams. These dams were all built for specific purposes, whether to manage water supplies, control flooding, generate power or for other needs. But with a mean age of 72 years, many of California鈥檚 dams have outlived their original purpose 鈥 while causing massive disruption to the environment, as well as to indigenous people and others who had to move out of the way of construction. And aging dams pose a serious hazard to communities if they fail.
In California, there is not a single river that runs unimpeded from source to ocean. That has led to the extinction of some species of salmon in the state and put others on the endangered species list. The loss of salmon runs has been disastrous for Native American communities, for example on the Klamath river.
What can be done? California is well-positioned to lead, write authors led by , associate professor of wildlife and fisheries biology at 澳门六合彩开奖结果走势图. Rypel and colleagues propose creating a broad, blue-ribbon panel to examine the regulation of dams in California in terms of safety and environmental performance. They propose developing scientific tools to assess dams, and overhauling the tangle of state and federal laws by which dams are approved and managed. Despite their environmental impact, dams may even turn out to be a haven for some endangered fish species if managed properly.
鈥淓very dam is unique and there will be no one-size-fits-all approach,鈥 the authors write. 鈥淧lanning for aging dams is not unlike planning for a pandemic. It seems as though you don鈥檛 need it鈥ntil you do.鈥
Coauthors on the post with Rypel are Jay Lund and Peter Moyle, Center for Watershed Sciences; Christine A. Parisek, Wildlife and Fisheries Biology; Ann Willis and Sarah Yarnell, John Muir Institute of the Environment; and Karrigan B枚rk, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.
Media Resources
(California Waterblog)