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California dams come down (fwd)
From: kenn@bogo.co.uk
Subject: California dams come down
To: Recipients of CHRM-GENERAL <chrm-general@igc.apc.org>
CALIFORNIA DAMS COME DOWN - Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt symbolically
sledgehammered into a concrete dam on Butte Creek that bars salmon from
spawning. 50 officials and local farmers attended the ceremony at McPherrin
Dam, 25 miles south of Chico, California Tuesday. It marked the start of a
project to remove two dams and restore 20 miles of Butte Creek to a free
flow for the first time since the 1920s. The dams should be gone this
summer. Butte Creek, which flows into the Sacramento River, is one of four
streams that still have spring-run chinook salmon. The fish cannot return
upstream to lay eggs with dams in the way. Local ranchers did not oppose
removal of the dam since they can get water from a different source. "I
think it represents a spirit of hope for California to find a better
balance between agriculture, recreation and the environment," Babbitt said.
Copyright (c) 1998 Environment News Service (ENS).