Hey Steemit, I'm diving deeper in to the intricacies of dams and their subsequent removal. In this essay I assess the role that public participation plays in Environmental Decision Making. Let me know what you think!
photo taken on the Willamette River <3
Public Participation in the Case of Elwha Dam Removal
Public Participation is a crucial part of environmental decision-making (EDM). The late 90s brought about a shift in public consciousness as people became increasingly aware of the environment and its fragile state (Ewing, 2003). On a global scale, humans turned their attention to the biosphere and the negative consequences unfurling due to misguided anthropogenic interference. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio marked the first gathering of nations to discuss and prioritize the environment and sustainable development (UNCED, 1992). In 1997 the World Commission on Dams (WCD) formed and brought international attention to the limitations of large-scale dam projects (World Commission on Dams, 2000). Every country faces unique challenges in the building and subsequent demolishing of dams. In the United States, every river presents its own set of challenges.
This paper is a case study of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe's participation in the decommissioning of the dams along the Elwha River. Through tribal advocacy for natural resource management of the Elwha watershed, the Lower Elwha Klallam helped implement meaningful environmental decision making that served to protect the ecosystem services of the area as well as cultural significance of the river (McCool, 2007). They fought for their place in the public participatory process, a struggle echoed by many other indigenous cultures around the world. Many actors, often with different agendas, make it difficult to find common ground in EDM. In the case of Elwha, the priorities of tribal nations, private companies and the federal government often competed. Through decades of perseverance, the Lower Elwha Klallam fostered a relationship with all involved stakeholders and made their voice heard. Because of the tribe's public participation, they shared their unique perspective and understanding of the river and its resources, facilitating the undamming of their sacred river.
America's Dam Obsession: Dams along the Elwha River
The 20th century spurred an onslaught of dam-building in America. These dams were built in the name of progress, without the foresight of potential negative impacts on ecosystems and the livelihood of indigenous peoples (Lindloff et al., 2000). Dams provide emission-free hydropower and play a large role in supporting agriculture, providing water supply and facilitating industrialized societies. However, these anthropogenic alterations of rivers (i.e., dam-building, channelization, large wood removal and levee and dike construction) become antiquated and no longer provide the services they once did (American Rivers, 2018).
The Elwha River in Washington, USA, starts in the Olympic Mountains and flows northward into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Elwha River is an 831 km2 watershed that provides habitat for many diverse ecosystems in the Salish Sea region and supports the livelihoods of several indigenous cultures (Guarino, 2013). The Klallam tribe as well as many other indigenous people turned to the river for their subsistence living. There were an abundance of fish and the tribes developed a widespread trade network. (Valadez, 2002). However, the river was dammed for 100 years, causing an array of problems for anadromous fish species and the Klallam people. After 2 decades of planning, the dam decommission project commenced in 2011 and spanned until 2014, marking the largest dam removal and biggest controlled sediment release in U.S. history (National Park Service, 2016).
The Klallam Tribe: Establishing Legitimacy in the Decommission Process
The United States legal system is notorious for excluding the voices of indigenous people. This compromises the legitimacy of the US government at both the input level and output level. At the input level it is very difficult for minorities to participate. This is further complicated because Tribal nations fall outside the jurisdictions of the federal government. While American Indians comprise their own sovereign nation, they are still subject to the decisions made for them by the federal government. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was implemented by the US Secretary of Interior and allowed the federal government to claim the land of indigenous people (Bender, 1997). This act legally divided the Klallam Indians into three distinct federally recognized tribes: the Lower Elwha Klallam, the Jamestown S'Klallam, and the Port Gamble S'Klallam (Ruby et al., 1986). The 300 acre Lower Elwha Klallam Reservation was established in 1968 (25 U.S.C. § 461). When assessing the legitimacy of the federal government, their hypocrisy convolutes their decisions. On the output level the effectiveness of their performance primarily benefits those of European decent. Environmental actors such as the Lower Klallam people watched their formally pristine river transform into an ecologically damaged landscape in the name progress.
The Klallam Tribe's Public Participation
Rather than remain silent in the process of environmental degradation, the Klallam people engaged in public participation. The Tribe empowered themselves by advocating for the removal of both the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams since the dams construction (Busch, 2008). Their involvement led the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to recognize the Tribe as an influential voice and provided them with the change to engage in restoration efforts (Nicole, 2012). In 1986 the Tribe filed an official motion to FERC, the commission responsible for licensing private companies operating the dams (FERC, 1986). The motion called to intervene with these companies and their hazardous practices for fisheries and the overall health of the river (Burke, 2001). Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the Seattle Audubon Society rallied in favor of the Tribes motion to intervene (National Park Service, 2015). This is a powerful example of the importance of public participation from many different sectors in the successful implementation of democratic governance.
Congress passed the Elwha River Ecosystems and Fisheries Restoration act in 1992 that called for a feasibility study of the Elwha river and fish restoration strategies (Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act, 1992). The United States Department of the Interior conducted the study and in 1995 published the "Elwha Report." In the report the Secretary of the Interior recommended the removal of both dams (Meyer et al., 1995). This initiated the process by which the federal government bought the dams from the private owner, Daishowa America Co., LTD in 2000 (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2009). The Act and subsequent purchase of both dams received funding from the National Park Service Construction Budget (Guarino, 2013). With the continued involvement of the Tribe and invested environmental NGOs, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act secured the funds to decommission the dams in 2009, a process that commenced in 2011 (Winter & Crain, 2008). Without the aid from NGOs and continued involvement in the public participation process, the Klallam tribe would not have had the power to enact the change they sought to achieve.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams
20 years of planning went into the decommissioning of the dams along the Elwha river. The undamming of the Elwha River serves as a watershed case for the collaborative efforts needed to implement EDM. It took nearly a century of increasing evidence of the dams detrimental impact before new objectives in Natural Resource Management were established. The planning process was long an arduous as multiple stakeholder competed for a say in the fate of the dams. The Elwha Report contained an EIA recommending the removal of both dams as the preferred way to move forward (Meyer et al., 1995). The Elwha Report and its EIA were submitted to Congress in 1994 while FERC released its own EIA to the public in 1995 (Meyer et al., 1995). Both environmental impact statements suggested dam removal.
Klallam Empowerment: Research Consortium and the Elwha River Fish Restoration Plan
The Klallam people serve as examples of the successful empowerment in the EDM process and provide evidence of the powerful accomplishments that take place with persistent public participation. In 2005 the Tribe as well as the Olympic National Park, the United States Geological Survey Biological Resources Discipline (USGS), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA), and several educational institutes established the Elwha Research Consortium (Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act, 1992). The Consortium studies the scientific impact of dam removal and the effects on the Elwha River ecosystem. In 2008, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and other invested agencies published the Elwha River Fish Restoration Plan. The Plan provided a scientific framework for the restoration process post dam decommissioning (Freilich, 2007). The Tribe plays an active role in continued monitoring of the Elwha River ecosystem and fisheries (Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, 2018).
The Success of the Klallam Tribe's and Implications for Other Dam-Affected Tribes
Many other dam-affected tribes can learn from the case of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. While governing bodies should work to include all actors including minorities in EDM, this is not always the reality. Dam building in the United States clearly demonstrates the sacrifice of democratic values for the pursuit of technological innovation (Klein, 1999). However, through active public participation, tribes and other overlooked groups can find empowerment and receive support from various stakeholders. Collaboration between different actors lends legitimacy to the democratic governance system and paves the way for sustainable environmental decision making.
photo of the still damed Klamath River. BUT there are plans to undam it by 2020!
Good Reads//References:
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