A recent 400-page report from the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that the benefits from removing four dams on the Klamath River outweigh the costs of removal by “as much as 47.6 to one.” The benefits would come primarily from the restoration of salmon and other anadramous fish populations. This would benefit commercial and recreational fishers. Other ecosystem improvements would also provide recreational benefits. In addition to the construction related costs of dam removal, the loss would primarily be recreational with the loss of the reservoirs.
Policy research institutes
According to the Kaldor-Hicks principle, which requires that the total benefits outweigh the total costs in order for a policy to be adopted, the damns on the Klamath River should be removed. Furthermore, because the removal of the damns would benefit commercial and recreational fishers without harming anyone else in the process, removal of the damns would be a Pareto improvement. The costs of construction and the costs incurred from the loss of the reservoirs would be compensated by the revenue raised from the surcharge on electric rates that, according to the article, has already been instated.