Clavey River

* When I started to read “Foes of Dam Battle to ‘Save the Clavey’ ” (Sept. 21), I first considered that the dam might be needed to provide electricity to a rural community. Then, towards the end of the article, was the paragraph, “Once it began operating, the power plant would run for only a few hours a day during the spring and summer, providing electricity . . . when customers’ desire for air conditioning places demand on the utility.” I looked at the pictures of the Clavey and read that the Clavey is “one of the last free-flowing rivers in the Sierra” and that “river rafters worry that the water diversion would also reduce flows over Clavey Falls, a famous rapids on the Tuolumne River just below the confluence of the two rivers.” The Turlock Irrigation District is trying to get permission to destroy the Clavey’s beauty, which was around long before human beings, in order to provide 5% to 15% more power for people to enjoy air conditioning when the weather gets a little hot? This kind of arrogance shakes my faith that people can continue to live on earth and not destroy it.

KAREN A. MISHKIN

Sherman Oaks