PAUL WILSON
Protecting Water on the Klamath River
Words and images by Paul Robert Wolf Wilson
With support from the Klamath Tribes Research Station
Hydroelectric Dams are a common sight throughout the world. Hydroelectricity has been pushed as a sustainable source of clean energy- a path forward to meet the energy dependence that developed nations continue to grow.
As with many energy technologies in our society, hydroelectric dams have not been studied comprehensively before being implemented at large scales. Historically, the construction of hydroelectric dams have led to the collapse of environments and traditional food systems, often violating the treaties of indigenous peoples and the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Ashia Grae Wolf Wilson, a 19 year-old Klamath and Modoc Tribal member won an undergraduate research project at the University of Oregon, where she attends as an undergraduate Ford scholar. She spent the summer studying the nuances of methane emissions from hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, a crux the international community is confronted with as a false climate solution. She set out to understand the standards by which the governing bodies within the basin measure the methane emissions throughout the Klamath River.
The findings of her research have shown that there is no standard for measuring methane emissions on the Klamath River. Despite methane emissions being 81 times more detrimental at times than CO2, the States, Counties, Federal Government, and parent companies did not engage in meaningful research to understand the environmental impacts that the hydroelectric dams were emitting.
Dams are still considered clean energy by the UN and major countries that set international energy policies. Hydroelectric projects continue to be funded through systems like the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism, digging the climate crises hole further as a false climate solution.
Ashia’s scholarship and continual activism work has hinged on removing dams as clean energy in international policies, while the largest dam removal in history is slated to take place on her ancestral river in 2023.
