PacifiCorp Removal of Western Dams Helps Tribes, Regulators Say

PacifiCorp won federal approval Thursday to remove four hydropower dams along the Klamath River in Oregon and California, a massive project that US energy regulators called an historic win for environmental and tribal justice.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the utility’s plan to surrender licenses and remove the dams, a project years in the making after concerns over the dam’s effect on water quality.

The order—the largest dam removal in US history—comes two decades after the Klamath Fish Kill, when as many as 70,000 dead salmon washed up along the river, victims of a disease that festers in low ...