In defense of dams, which U.S. canoeists should worship!

[lowangle al]

In my area of Pa. and in Wisconsin too, we owe a lot of our man made lakes to the beer industry's need for ice. The lake I live on is one. Ice harvesting was big business 100 years ago. I've often wondered if all these man made lakes made the environment better. I think they have benefited many species, like the beaver, otter and eagle, not to mention fish. I also wonder if the original Native population would have benefited from all these lakes. My hunch is it would have.

Certainly all dams aren't good. Ones that prevented fish migrations were ecological disasters. At one time the Susquehanna had a tremendous shad run, but no more. Many salmon runs have also been destroyed. It is a good thing that these things are considered today and we are trying to return things to a more natural state.

 

[ppine]

Dams are over rated.
Water is best stored below the surface as ground water.
Fish and wildlife benefit from undammed streams.
Dams cost a lot and have a useful life, and then silt in.

 

[Halpc]

There are some undammed stretches of river that are canoeable most of the year, sometimes even in both directions. The Teton has no impoundment dams (well, we tried). I just got back from paddling some of the upper valley stretch, going upstream and down in late summer flows. I saw no evidence of high spring floods.

The Salmon (aka River of No Return) is navigable for the whitewater capable most of the year. The South Fork of the Payette runs all summer. Neither are controlled by dams.

Large natural lakes...we have four. Pend Oreille, Bear Lake, Coeur d'Alene, and Priest Lake.

Three others are of significant size (4,000 to 6,000 acres) - Henrys Lake, Payette Lake, and Hayden Lake.

Besides that, the Snake River below Shoshone Falls is largely spring fed year-round, to the tune of about 5'000 cfs.

There are numerous other rivers with upper reaches that are navigable (especially if you're a poler) all through summer in most years
That's just Idaho. I know there are some as well in neighboring states. I'm not sure how much I would really miss dams in the PNW..... assuming we made up the loss with nuclear

 

[Halpc]

Hey Steve- thanks for your post. Can you provide any more info on the Teton? Was it an overnight trip or day trip. Did you do a bike shuttle, car shuttle or an upstream and back paddle? Put in and take outs? I am seriously considering driving up to paddle it, if it is doable this time of year. You guys in Idaho have a wealth of great rivers. I have enjoyed the Payette, Bear, Salmon, and Snake in the past and would love to add the Teton this year if possible. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Hey Steve- thanks for your post. Can you provide any more info on the Teton? Was it an overnight trip or day trip. Did you do a bike shuttle, car shuttle or an upstream and back paddle? Put in and take outs? I am seriously considering driving up to paddle it, if it is doable this time of year. You guys in Idaho have a wealth of great rivers. I have enjoyed the Payette, Bear, Salmon, and Snake in the past and would love to add the Teton this year if possible. Thanks for any advice.

It was an overnighter, but we cheated. We set up camp where you can drive to an access in the middle of our trip, and shuttled to the top by auto. Made it a very comfortable family trip with two easy days on the river. There's a big undeveloped camping area there, not far from the little town of Driggs. Google knows it as Big Eddy. I recommend avoiding the weekends and the warmer weather.

We only did a small part of what is there since a young grandkid was involved.

 

[Halpc]

Thanks for the info. It looks like it was running between 500 and 600 ccs from Aug 6-13 and is now at 650 CFS. I will try to get up there during a mid-week sometime soon if the water level holds up.