The Klamath River Renewal Corp.—the nonprofit corporation overseeing removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California—is optimistic the undertaking will finally go forward after the U.S. Interior Dept. indicated its support for the approximately $445-million project on April 18. The approval follows a similar okay from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The Klamath dams project, in planning for more than a decade and considered a proof-of-concept for similar large projects in the U.S., would be historic for its magnitude and complexity. “Never before have so many large dams been removed from a single river at one time in the U.S.,” the Congressional Research Service said March 3, adding that the project could be a model for transferring private dams to states or nonprofits for removal in exchange for liability protection.