Environmental Study of Shasta Dam Project Halted

"In a recent turn of events, according to E&E News, the Westlands Water District announced in early October that it is halting its environmental study of raising the height of Shasta Dam [in California]. The study was meant to evaluate the environmental impacts as well as assess whether the project was worth the investment," reports Kalen Goodluck.

Goodluck says that for decades agricultural and municipal water districts have advocated for raising the dam to increase water supplies in the reservoir, Shasta Lake. The Department of the Interior, with support from some members of Congress, had revisited the idea of raising the dam’s height.

Environmentalists have opposed the proposal, and state officials say it would violate state law. "It is also opposed by the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, whose members were forced out during the dam’s construction; they say even more ancestral land would be swallowed up," notes Goodluck.