Sunday
Dec212014
The Trouble With Dams
Sunday, December 21, 2014 at 12:35AM 
Rober Devine wrote this piece that could have come form the script of DamNation back in 1995.
Some 100,000 dams regulate America's rivers and creeks, often at the expense of ecosystems--and of taxpayers, who are subsidizing handouts to a large number of farmers, frloodplain occupants, hydro-electricity users, and river-transportation interests.
LINK (via:The Atlantic)
tagged dam building, damnation in Dams
dam building, damnation in Dams
Reader Comments (1)
I'm all about taking down dams that serve no purpose, and I'm willing to do more to protect the habitat of the fish I chase by doing more than just fishing, but I can't help but stand up for farmers. While a few apples can certainly spoil an entire bushel, characterizing farm subsidies as "handouts" in such as way as to be intentionally insulting is wrong. The author is this article, Mr. Devine, probably ate vegetables at some point today in Corvalis, Oregon. As a freelance, award winning author I have no argument that he isn't a great writer, but I can, and will, speculate that he is glad the vegetables that he and his family eat don't cost five times as much as they do. While the article speaks about "irrigators", the 34 word blurb in the caption of the photo above, and at the top of the article, just says "farmers". As the son of a dry-land farmer (no irrigation), I have to take a bit of an exception. "Farmers" are not the enemy. Enjoy your lunch... I'm going fishing.