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ENB Pub Note: With most of the hydropower in California, Washington, and Oregon, why are they removing the dams for clean energy generation? The EIA posted their STEO forecast below, and I have added summaries of the three states at the top. Energy management is critical to look at the environment and water management from a total environmental viewpoint. The removal of the dams has caused more harm, and just look at the Palisades Fire in California. Water management is part of the energy security issue.
Washington State
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Confirmed Dam Removals:
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Condit Dam (White Salmon River, Klickitat County): Removed in 2011. This 125-foot hydroelectric dam, built in 1913, was decommissioned to restore salmon and steelhead migration. Its removal was the first major dam removal in Washington supported by Native American tribes.
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Elwha Dam (Elwha River, Clallam County): Removed in 2012. This 108-foot dam, built in 1913, was part of the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration project. Its removal restored salmon and trout access to the upper river.
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Glines Canyon Dam (Elwha River, Clallam County): Removed in 2014. This 210-foot dam, built in 1927, was part of the same Elwha project, making it one of the largest dam removals in U.S. history at the time.
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Grangeville Dam (South Fork Clearwater River): Removed in 1963. This 56-foot hydroelectric dam, built in 1911, was dynamited after its fish ladder collapsed in 1949 and its hydropower facilities became obsolete. It was the largest dam removed in the U.S. at the time.
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Lewiston Dam (Clearwater River): Removed in 1971. This 39-foot hydroelectric dam, built in 1927, lacked fish ladders and was rendered obsolete by the downstream Lower Granite Dam.
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Total Removed in Washington: At least 5 hydroelectric dams have been removed, with the Elwha River project (Elwha and Glines Canyon dams) being the most significant.
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Shut Down or Proposed for Removal:
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No additional hydroelectric dams in Washington are explicitly reported as shut down (i.e., permanently decommissioned but not physically removed) in the provided data.
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Lower Snake River Dams (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor): These four dams, built between 1962 and 1975, are candidates for removal due to sediment accumulation and impacts on salmon migration. However, as of 2025, they remain operational, with ongoing debates and studies but no confirmed removal plans. Removal would reduce hydropower by ~1,000 MW, impacting grid reliability.
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Oregon
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Confirmed Dam Removals:
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Marmot Dam (Sandy River): Removed in 2007. This 50-foot hydroelectric dam, owned by Portland General Electric, was removed to improve Pacific salmon and steelhead access to the upper Sandy River watershed. Its removal was highly successful.
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Savage Rapids Dam (Rogue River): Removed in 2009. This 39-foot dam, built in 1921 for irrigation and later retrofitted for hydropower, was removed to restore fish passage for salmon and steelhead.
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Klamath River Dams (Partial): The Klamath River, spanning Oregon and California, saw the removal of four hydroelectric dams (Copco 1, Copco 2, Iron Gate, and JC Boyle) completed in 2024 as part of the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. JC Boyle Dam in Southern Oregon was one of these, built in 1958.
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Additional Removals in 2023: Oregon led the U.S. with 9 dam removals in 2023, per American Rivers, though not all were hydroelectric. Specific hydroelectric dams beyond Marmot, Savage Rapids, and JC Boyle are not individually named in the data, but smaller or obsolete hydroelectric dams may be included in this count.
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Total Removed in Oregon: At least 3 confirmed hydroelectric dams (Marmot, Savage Rapids, JC Boyle), with potentially more among the 9 removals in 2023 (exact number of hydroelectric dams unclear).
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Shut Down or Proposed for Removal:
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Willamette River Dams: In January 2025, legislation signed by President Biden ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pause plans for fish passage improvements at 13 dams on the Willamette River system and study shutting down their hydroelectric turbines. These dams, primarily for flood control, generate <1% of the Northwest’s power (~100,000 homes) at a high cost. As of May 2025, no turbines have been shut down, but the study could lead to future decommissioning.
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No other specific shutdowns (decommissioned but not removed) are reported in Oregon.
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California
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Confirmed Dam Removals:
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Klamath River Dams: Three of the four dams removed in 2024 are in Northern California:
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Copco 1 Dam (built 1918)
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Copco 2 Dam (built 1925)
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Iron Gate Dam (built 1962) These dams, part of PacifiCorp’s Klamath Hydroelectric Project, produced <2% of the utility’s power but blocked salmon migration. Their removal, completed in 2024, cost ~$450–500 million and restored 400 miles of habitat.
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Fossil Creek Dam (Fossil Creek, tributary of Verde River): Removed in 2008. This 25-foot dam, built in 1916, was removed to restore flow and native fish populations.
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Cuddebackville Dam (Neversink River): Removed in 2004. This 6-foot dam, built in 1915 for hydropower, was abandoned since 1945 and removed to benefit aquatic life, including the Dwarf Wedge Mussel and American Shad.
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Total Removed in California: At least 5 hydroelectric dams (Copco 1, Copco 2, Iron Gate, Fossil Creek, Cuddebackville).
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Shut Down or Proposed for Removal:
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Matilija Dam (near Ojai): This 1947 dam, which blocked steelhead trout, has lost 90% of its capacity due to siltation and is proposed for removal, but no funding has been secured as of 2023.
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O’Shaughnessy Dam (Hetch Hetchy Valley): Built in 1923, it remains controversial for being in a national park. Preservationists advocate for removal, but it remains operational with no confirmed shutdown plans.
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Glen Canyon Dam (Colorado River): Proposed for removal due to impacts on water quality and habitat in Grand Canyon National Park, but no concrete plans exist as of 2025.
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No specific shutdowns (decommissioned but not removed) are reported in California.
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Washington State:
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Removed: 5 (Condit, Elwha, Glines Canyon, Grangeville, Lewiston)
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Shut Down: 0 confirmed
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Proposed: 4 (Lower Snake River dams)
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Oregon:
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Removed: At least 3 (Marmot, Savage Rapids, JC Boyle), potentially more from 2023’s 9 removals
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Shut Down: 0 confirmed, but 13 Willamette River dams under study for potential turbine shutdown
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Proposed: None additional
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California:
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Removed: 5 (Copco 1, Copco 2, Iron Gate, Fossil Creek, Cuddebackville)
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Shut Down: 0 confirmed
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Proposed: 3 (Matilija, O’Shaughnessy, Glen Canyon)
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Total Across Three States:
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Removed: At least 13 hydroelectric dams (5 in Washington, 3+ in Oregon, 5 in California).
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Shut Down: 0 confirmed, though 13 Willamette River dams in Oregon are under study for potential turbine shutdown.
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Proposed for Removal: At least 7 (4 in Washington, 3 in California).
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The data primarily covers dams explicitly identified as hydroelectric. Some of the 80 dams removed in 2023 across the U.S. (per American Rivers) may include additional small hydroelectric dams in Oregon or California, but specific names or purposes are not always provided.
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“Shut down” refers to dams decommissioned (turbines stopped) but not physically removed. The Willamette River dams are the only clear case under consideration, with no confirmed shutdowns as of May 2025.
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Dam removals are often driven by environmental restoration (e.g., salmon recovery), but opposition cites impacts on power supply, irrigation, and local economies. For example, Klamath removals faced resistance from Siskiyou County residents over flood risks and property value losses.
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The Klamath River project (4 dams, 1 in Oregon, 3 in California) is the largest dam removal effort in U.S. history, completed in 2024, and serves as a model for future projects like the Lower Snake River dams.
We expect U.S. hydropower generation will increase by 7.5% in 2025 but will remain 2.4% below the 10-year average in our May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Hydropower generation in 2024 fell to 241 billion kilowatthours (BkWh), the lowest since at least 2010; in 2025, we expect generation will be 259.1 BkWh. This amount of generation would represent 6% of the electricity generation in the country.
About half of the hydropower generating capacity in the country is in the western states of Washington, Oregon, and California, so we closely monitor precipitation patterns in this region to inform our hydropower outlook.
Precipitation conditions have been mixed across the western United States since October. According to the WestWide Drought Tracker, more precipitation than normal has fallen in northern California, Oregon, and the eastern half of Washington state. Some areas in southeastern Oregon received record precipitation between October 2024 and April 2025. In contrast, precipitation was below normal in parts of Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Southern California.
Accumulation from winter precipitation tends to peak by April 1. The snowpack accumulation at higher elevations serves as a natural reservoir that melts gradually as temperatures rise in the late spring and early summer, leading to increased waterflow through dams.
Northwest and Rockies
We expect hydropower generation in the Northwest and Rockies region to be 125.1 BkWh, which is a 17% increase compared with 2024 and 4% less than the 10-year average. Our hydropower forecast is informed by the water supply outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest River Forecast Center (NWRFC).
On May 1, NWRFC released its latest April–September water supply forecast for the Pacific Northwest, part of the larger Northwest and Rockies region as modeled in the STEO. The NWRFC forecasts the region will have a below-normal water supply compared with the past 30 years in the northern portion of the basin, which includes the Upper Columbia River Basin, and above- to near-normal water supply in the southern portion, which includes the Snake River Basin. Water supply conditions at The Dalles Dam, located near the mouth of the Columbia River on the border between Washington and Oregon, reflect those of the upstream Columbia River system. The forecast at The Dalles Dam as of May 1 was 85% of normal for the same period.
California
We forecast hydropower generation in California to be 28.5 BkWh in our May STEO, which is 6% less than last year’s generation. This total would be 15% more than the 10-year average.
As of April 1, reservoir levels in most major reservoirs in California were above the historical average for this time of year. The two largest reservoirs in the state, Shasta and Oroville, were at 113% and 121% of the historical average, respectively. According to the California Department of Water Resources, snowpack conditions as of April 1 were at 118% of normal for the Northern Sierra Nevada, 92% for Central Sierra, and 83% in Southern Sierra Nevada regions. Warmer-than-normal temperatures in April led to some early snowmelt across the state. As of the beginning of May, snowpack conditions were at 81% of normal for the Northern Sierra Nevada, 73% for Central Sierra, and 53% for the Southern Sierra portion.
The post U.S. hydropower generation expected to rise by 7% in 2025 following last year’s record low – Then why are so many dams being removed? appeared first on Energy News Beat.
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