The Teton Dam’s catastrophic failure in June of 1976 led to the deaths of 11 people and devastated property and possessions downstream. Now Idaho officials want to rebuild Teton, and the Bureau of Reclamation agreed this month to provide funds for a study.
The following video, and the feature in the upcoming Trout magazine, paint a clear picture of how horrifying the prospect of a new Teton could be.
By Dave Ivie June 27, 2009 - 3:37 pm
Dams are one of, if not the most damaging structures impacting the populations of migratory fish. I know they can produce electricity and control flooding, but I feel we do not effectively weigh out the costs (both monetary and environmental) of dams against their benefits.
IMHO, we can safely produce electricity through nuclear power plants (after all – if the French can do it – c’mon).
I know people rely on dams to control flooding where they live – but would they live there if the dams didn’t exist in the first place? Flooding is a natural occurance of nature. You simply cannot control nature effectively. Floods will happen and people probably should not live in flood zones.
I often think of how the state of Washington, where I live, could be so rich with salmon and steelhead. Maybe someday it will again, but no doubt, not in my lifetime.
By ck August 13, 2009 - 6:47 pm
The primary purpose of most dams is irrigation. Collecting run-off and retaining water allows people to live and farm in arid regions, making millions of acres usable that would otherwise be inhospitable. Such is the case with the Teton Dam, Oywhee Dam, Hoover Dam, and others without which many large western cities would not exist.
Hydroelectricity and flood control are secondary in most cases, and don’t amount to much compared to the cost-benefit of creating farms and cities.
By Barbara September 1, 2009 - 1:50 am
What is the cost benefit of farms and cities if the government is subsidizing the cost of the irrigation water at the taxpayers’ expense? Add in the damage to soil by salination as a result of mismanagement of irrigation, and you have a recipe for disaster. Perhaps if people knew the true cost of irrigation and dams, they would not be so eager to live in their shadow.