Why not just build bypass channels around the dams instead of removing them?
Constructing fish passage channels around the dams may seem like a logical way to satisfy the interests of numerous parties. However, fish passage is only one of several issues that have prompted so many people to advocate for the removal of the dams. 1. Right now, up to 90% of Chinook juveniles may die in the stretch immediately below Iron Gate dam. This is because the dams themselves create the conditions that the fish parasites thrive in. First, the reservoirs heat Klamath water to unnatural levels that are favorable for the proliferation of fish parasites. Second, by interrupting the natural flow and sediment cycles of the river, the dams create abnormal substrate conditions immediately below the dams. Normally, gravels and cobbles would be flushed of excess vegetation during variable flows, and gravels lost to downstream flow would be replaced by those rolling in from tributaries and upstream. The dams cut off the ability of the river bottom to “clean” itself, while removing grave
