Klamath River Dam Removal Disaster

Floor Speech

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Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project in the northern California and southern Oregon area, including my district, had produced annually enough reliable, cheap, renewable, CO2-free electricity for 70,000 households. They provided good-paying jobs and were the largest single private taxpayer in Siskiyou County, California, by having these dams.

Now, the Klamath removal project is an assault on the people and livelihoods of the people in the Klamath Basin. It is an attack on American agriculture, a misguided attempt to help a fish population that this Klamath dam removal will likely end up destroying, as evidenced by the dirty plume of water you see entering into the stream there. Unbelievable.

People are now finding their wells are going dry because they are not being supported by having the lakes there anymore. They are finding that the wells they do have are starting to feel the effects of this toxic plume hitting them. The water supply that the fish, wildlife, and livestock would normally get out of the river is tainted. You are seeing massive fish kills and wildlife kill.

One lady sent an example to my office of the water that came out that she used to bathe her child in. It was the same color as this stuff right here. I wouldn't wash my snow tires in that, I don't think, let alone my child.

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