[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 30 (Thursday, February 15, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   KLAMATH RIVER DAM REMOVAL DISASTER

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  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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