6 Things You Need To Know About The Klamath River Dam Removals
4 dams on the Klamath River are being removed after nearly 100 years of blocking fish migration, encroaching on indigenous culture, and harming water quality
Update January, 2024: Copco No. 2 was fully removed in October 2023, marking the first of four dam removals along the Klamath River. The other three dams on the Klamath River that are part of this project are slated to begin removal in January of 2024!
For nearly 100 years, dams on the Klamath River have blocked salmon and steelhead trout from reaching more than 400 miles of habitat, encroached on indigenous culture, and harmed water quality for people and wildlife. The time has finally come for the four dams – J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate – built between 1908 and 1962, to come down. This river restoration project will have lasting benefits for the river, salmon, and communities throughout the Klamath Basin. Here are 6 things you need to know about the Klamath River Dam Removals.
- One of the largest dam removals in world history
Four dams along the Klamath River, which runs from Oregon into northwestern California, are scheduled to be removed in 2023 and 2024 – Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, Iron Gate, and JC Boyle. These dams total 400 vertical feet and choke fish passage along hundreds of miles of waterways, making this a historic opportunity and one of the largest dam removal projects to date. And construction has started! American Rivers is working in partnership with Tribal Nations, NGOs, the state and federal government, and local communities to ensure the health of the Klamath Rivers and the people who depend on its vitality.
- Tribal advocacy created this opportunity
Tribal nations whose ancestral lands and histories have intersected with the Klamath watershed since time immemorial – including the Hoopa, Karuk, Yurok, Shasta, Klamath and Modoc people – have spearheaded the collective effort to remove the Klamath dams. The health of the Klamath is a key facet of these peoples’ history, culture, and subsistence, and tribal leadership and perspective has profoundly shaped the course of events on the Klamath over the past two decades. Tribally led advocacy included a high-profile protest when Berkshire Hathaway and PacifiCorp executives visited the Klamath in 2020. River advocates, led by the tribal nations, pushed the executives to join the effort to remove the Klamath dams.
Guardians of the River
In this film by American Rivers and Swiftwater Films, Indigenous leaders share why removing four dams to restore a healthy Klamath River is critical for clean water, food sovereignty and justice.
- Many years, many players, many obstacles
Dam removal is far from a linear process, and the journey to get to the key milestone of removal began decades ago. Though Tribes had been advocating for dam removal prior to a series of legal conflicts amongst rightsholders in the Klamath basin in 2001, a catastrophic fish kill in 2002 catalyzed wider action for dam removal. Following the fish kill, which resulted in the death of nearly 70,000 adult salmon, Tribes, NGOs, agencies, the States of California and Oregon, and individual rightsholders began working together collaboratively to address the health of the Klamath River and its communities and the movement towards dam removal began to gain momentum. Discussions around a far-ranging restoration plan in the Klamath basin began in 2005, with a proposed plan introduced to Congress in 2010. This initial legislation, the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), failed to pass through Congress. After the KBRA failed, several parties to that agreement worked to find a solution to dam removal, ultimately known as the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA). The signatories to the KHSA, which include several NGOs, Tribes and the States of California and Oregon, created this plan as way to get dam removal done without having to seek Congress’ approval. Under the KHSA, the states and PacifiCorp take on the liability for and cost of the dams’ deconstruction, avoiding Congress entirely. This Agreement was signed in 2016, setting this new path in motion and creating the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the entity tasked with removing the dams.
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- Creating ecological resilience
Removing the Klamath dams promises a wide range of ecosystem benefits that enhance regional climate resilience and aid the imperiled salmonid populations that once surged into the watershed from the ocean (now only 5% of historic averages). Significantly, dam removal expands spawning habitat for fish. Damming on the Klamath has also contributed to warmed water temperatures, leading to toxic algae blooms and decreased dissolved oxygen in the river. By removing the four dams, we can help bring salmonid populations back from the brink, while restoring habitat for other species. Restoration doesn’t end with the removal of the dams: additional restoration on Klamath River tributaries is needed to enhance fisheries, as well as the other flora and fauna that depend on healthy rivers to thrive. Land that was formerly inundated in reservoirs will be revegetated with native plant species following dam removal through natural seed dispersal, assisted by a program to plant millions of native and culturally significant starts and trees, providing ecologically vital riparian habitat.
- Strengthening communities through dam removal
As salmon in the Klamath River have declined, commercial and recreational fishing have had to periodically close, impacting tourism, fishing, and other economic drivers. Dam removal along the Klamath will create newfound recreation opportunities for local communities, while also helping provide and sustain the comprehensive impacts healthy rivers have on communities, including subsistence. PacifiCorp also determined that dam removal was the best economic decision for ratepayers in the region.
- Key Dates to Know
June 2023 – The removal of Copco No. 2, the smallest of the dams, begins.
September 2023 – Full removal of Copco No. 2 and its related infrastructure is expected to be completed.
January 2024 – Reservoir draw down begins for Iron Gate, Copco 1, and JC Boyle and will continue through the spring. Once drawdown is completed, dam removal and lakebed restoration activities will begin.
83 responses to “6 Things You Need To Know About The Klamath River Dam Removals”
Why did you not just build fish ladders around the dams for them big enough for them so they could just go around. But know remove them and destroy the entire ecosystem. Very smart move. It took a very smart guy to do that
Removing the dams isn’t destroying the ecosystem. The dams themselves are what has caused a deterioration in the ecosystem. The dams have also compromised the sovereignty of the six tribes in the region who have seen their quality of life decline because of these dams.
Soon the salmon can begin to return to spawn. And water temperatures can begin to return to normal where previously water temperature was so high it led to toxic algae blooms.
I have not seen any reference as to how the decades of heavy metal contaminants that have been being deposited and building up at the base behind these dams is being addressed!?!
So, take 4 dams out, but leave 2 dams in….so the river still isn’t “free flowing”. This isn’t going to be the panacea that this article makes it out to be.
What two dams are you talking about? The four dams are what was agreed by several native tribes and other entities involved in the dam removal process.
No mention of the millions of lamprey killed. The lowering of water for dam repair on the Winchester Dam last summer for a few weeks killed over 500,000 lamprey.
I think it is a strange thing to do with rampant drought and water resources so short in CA, and all over the west. With the last dam about 100 miles from the ocean, and the dams having been there so long that the salmon have probably gotten used to it. There should be fish ladders at each dam for the salmon to be able to go upstream. I don’t know what habitats for spawning there are above the dams, but there ought to be plenty.
I am not sure why the eco-minded people focused on this. I am not sure why the eco- minded people didn’t focus on many years extreme forest fires and not getting rid of dried out undergrowth that exacerbate the fire hazard. Why hasn’t anyone tried to fix that? These extreme events have killed many people and wildlife. “California: Klamath River houses destroyed after McKinney Fire hits community”; “Firefighting in The Klamath River Country”; “Unfiltered Fire Report from the Klamath River”
Please explain
and
be careful what you wish for
and
beware of unintended consequences.
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Thankfully the Klamath dams are being removed and may the salmon return home. The problem is Klamath Falls Department of Interior and the Framers.
Bye Bye Dams! Hello RIVER!!! Bye Bye stupid boat docks and stupid jet skiers. Hello Salmon and Water!!!
Amen! Amen to this!
There are still 2 dams. this won’t solve anything.
Agree .
Are the salmon supposed to go up through the city of Klamath and if so how does a pine trees floating affect the fish won’t that kill them
The short answer is no. Chinook Salmon was historically never an annual feature above Klamath Falls. The link river commonly dried up in July and August and Upper klamath was mostly marsh before the link river dam was installed. Check out this video: https://youtu.be/haC–_SjnL4?si=Hd_xEj-lAzXlgMEv
Great map of the entire klamath drainage . I have an addition however , four mile lake in the cascades used to drain into upper klamath lake at Rocky point. The swamp there was dammed up into a lake and then diverted over to fish lake and down into the rogue river drainage as a water supply for the greater Medford area. This is clear cold klamath basin water that isn’t allowed to flow into the lake at all but instead sent down the west slope of the cascades. This should be a crime !! Every extra shot of cold water is necessary to restore the system. The Klamath is an extremely unique river in its “upside down “ nature .
Oh, don’t think about the people in the supply of water for Medford heavens no!
Awesome! Winchester dam on the N Umpqua needs to be next!
I second the request to remove the Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River. It is used as a ski lake for a few rich people. The fish ladder here is decrepit and blocks salmon from getting up the river that used to be known for its fishing.
There are a lot of pieces of the Klamath River water issues. Along with the beforementioned fourmile lake, there is the diversion of jenny creek and keene creek to emigrant reservoir, and half the water from trinity river diverted to the sacramento river. All of these were good cold water that historically flowed into the Klamath River. Returning these to their natural drainage would all help with water quality. The other big piece that I don’t hear anything about is the loss of power generation from removing the Dams, and the environmental impact. These Dams averaged 536,199 Megawatthours of electricity each year. Replacing this Hydro power with power from the grid will add 255,498 TONS of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year……. 700 TONS per day!! I’m sure this project will help water quality and the Salmon, but there is a cost
I got an idea, let’s replace all of that clean hydropower with big wind turbines and hundreds of acres of solar farms and put them all on the tribal lands that had these dams removed. The power has to be replaced somehow. Then in 20 years let’s bury all the wind turbine blades and solar panels on the tribal land as they are only good for about 20 years.
salman are the most valuable thing for the tribes.
actually, alcohol and drugs are
I waited too long, was an excellent yellow perch fishery..
So there will be no place to go fishing for yellow perch?
Finally, a project that will do real good for salmon and the environment. I can understand how some people will be impacted – traditions uprooted, boat docks made unusable, access to the river forever changed. But accomplishing the greater good requires some to pay a higher price than others. I’d be surprised if compensation is not being offered to those who will lose traditional uses of the reservoirs. Change is hard and its a likely guarantee that there will not be 100% happiness about this project. Maybe in a few years, those affected will see real benefits.
This is a great comment. I feel the same way about high speed rail/public transit in California. It’ll cost now, but people don’t understand how much better life would be on the other side.
Comparing the high speed rail and the tearing down of these dams is kinda unrealistic. Just my opinion and not downing yours. In my opinion the HS rail is a giant money pit trying to compete with other countries who also have it. Who’s going to ride the outfit to pay for it? Who will be able to afford it because it won’t be cheap. Unless it was never meant to be profitable in the first place and subsidized by the govt. Basically the taxpayer will have to suck it up and more than half paying for it will never step foot on it. I also don’t understand that in a time of drought, high fuel prices , over inflation , etc etc the storage of water is what we need more of , not less fir some Dad burn fish. We are at the top of the food chain. But hey I guess we won’t be able to bitch about water being sold to Southern Cali or drained to the ocean. Therewith be any to do that. In these days and times and the bs coming down on us in this country, all I’d like to say to people reading this is, you’d better get something to eat!! Or learn to grow it, raise it , harvest it, slaughter it, because famine is coming to America. Bill Gates , China and the Biden administration is trying real hard to make it real hard to feed ourselves and families. There’s going to come a time when a loaf of bread will cost you a day’s wages. Hard to imagine right? But not far off. Closer than any may think. God bless you all. Thanks fir letting me share and sorry I drifted to other subject. Peace
Great start BUT! Until us humans start using our brains, common sense & reasoning & STOP HAVING MORE HUMANS, won’t do any good… very smart minds calculated 3 billion humans to sustain on earth – we are 8 billion. We’re doomed!!!
Having flown all over Europe, Asia, Central America and the US, I can assure you the world is sparsely. Only the cities are crowded. Every generation thinks the end of the world is just around the corner “We’re doomed”. Amazingly we still here. Rest easy my brother.
Brother, the planet has limited resources and the current population is clearly stretching those limits. The loss of these dams will have significant immediate consequences along with future unintended consequences. Hopefully the fish show up as expected to counter these consequences.
Old Person nailed it. Great project, and thanks for all the hard working people who are freeing this river, but the elephant in the room is the excessive population of the large two-legged omnivores, us.
So by your logic we’d be better off if you killed yourself. Make room for someone who might come up with a solution. As I’m sure you haven’t had any kids, so you not part of the problem, I say “Big Ups” to such man of solutions.
Couldn’t agree more, Lance.
Why are you still here if you are worried about too many people on each?
I’m curious to know just exactly how much of the infrastructure that’s associated with these dams – such as buildings, electric towers, electric lines, water chutes that run through mountains & alongside the riverbed, roads, etc. – is also going to be removed.
UP to PG&E what stays and what goes.
Added a fish hatchery and other sundry operations upstream of Iron Gate
Will the dam removals lower Klamath lake and how far.
Klamath lake will be gone
You are incorrect sir. Klamath Lake will not be affected.
Upper Klamath Lake will not be affected by the dam removal project
There are two additional dams upstream of JC Boyle that are not scheduled to be removed. Keno and Link river dams will be maintained and Link river dam is the only damn that affects the level of Klamath Lake. Many withdrawals/diversions originate at, or above Keno & Link river dams. It’s my understanding that because of the importance of these diversions, both of these dams will be kept (for now anyway).
Don’t do a halfassed job! Take out Keno and Link River dams.
Terry Clemens no food for you.
Bravo. Klamath River restoration is appropriate policy implementation. Bravo.
Jay Musante
Oakland CA
Reservoirs that shrink and grow produce tons of CO
Hydroelectric dams? What’s this going to do to my power bill? Or is this something you guys just don’t care about? Like yay for the fish, but I don’t care about fish if I have to sit in the dark because you destroyed my power supply.
Jeff you sure are one dumb son of a bitch
Jeff is right. Will we have enuff pwr. What about the electric cars?
None of those dams were producing much power (1 or 3% of what the power company produced). The power company has moved on to more efficient methods, so I can’t see how your power bill is affected.
There’s been presentations done that include this information.
Hydro dams are the cheapest way of generating power. I live in Idaho and worked for Idaho power. The cost to generate with hydro is about 3 cents a kilowatt hour. With the gas turbines Idaho power has had to install, that cost is 65 cents a kilowatt hour. Idaho power sells power on a tiered rate. The more you use the higher it gets. It averages out to about 11-12 cents a kilowatt hour for residential. The less hydros there are, the higher the price. The reservoirs from behind these dams creates alot of hours of recreation of all types. We still have Salmon and Steehead coming to the interior of Idaho, Up the Columbia River to the Snake and Salmon river. There is also lots of privately owned wind and solar that are expensive to build that the P.U.C. require Idaho power to buy. Life expectancy is about 20 years with these. We have hydros over 100 years old and still generating. Hydro is the cheapest and one of the cleanest forms of power.
The power these dams produce is insignificant. Solar and wind power have replaced the tiny amount produced by these dams. Removing these dams makes the most sense in both a long term biological and financial respect. Don’t worry Jeff, your power bill will not increase, and as long as you pay it, you won’t be left in the dark.
Pacific Corp, who signed off on the dam removal said the dam removal would save the ratepayers money. Trying to repair a leaking 1925 dam was way to expensive.
I read all the propaganda in this article with interest. All may be true, but I would like to hear the other side.
What other side do you need to hear dip shit ?
What’s wrong with you? He’s a dip shit for wanting to hear all the information about an issue before forming his own viewpoint on it? I call that smart. If one makes decisions and forms opinions after hearing only one side of an issue, I can tell you who the dip shit is.
I have no horse in this race, so I searched out more information. I found this article from a few years back: https://www.redding.com/story/news/2018/10/05/controversy-klamath-river-dam-removal-persists-approval-nears/1523718002/. A rare moment of real journalism here, not trying to convince me of anything, just explaining both sides of it. After reading this, I came to the INFORMED conclusion, that I agree with what they are doing. My point is this: If you want people to come to your viewpoint, you’re going to be much better off telling them both sides of the issue, and why you feel the way you do, than calling them a dip shit for wanting more information.
He’s right, you know. Something something sugar and vinegar, something something flies. You wanna fly into battle raging alone, or you wanna bring an army? Piss and Vinegar make poor recruitment tools for the cause.
Yeah!!! No more extra water storage for drought conditions!! Hurray!!! You can call everybody who disagrees with you-a”dipshit”! Ride the wave “BRO'”!! While you can. To save one type of fish,wipe out others!! Poor dear.. Deer lives “don’t matter” Stuck in mud… When you try and “restore” what once was- there is a massive difference in the “Mean- made” disasters that are coming. Welcome to the pre- planned W.E.F.!! You have just fallen into the kettle that is growing hotter. There will be NO “UTOPIA” ONLY FOR THE GLOBALIST ELITE.. BETTER GET YOUR SNOBBY MEMBERSHIP!! NUFF SAID!!! DON’T GET “BRANDED”!!
Flooding?
Thanks for your comment! The four dams don’t provide flood control or irrigation. They generate a small amount of hydropower, which will be replaced using renewables and efficiency measures without contributing to climate change.
The dams provided non-carbon based power for over 70,000 homes. There is NO plan to replace them with a green power Source. One more example of “Green Propaganda”
Not a physics major, were you? Matter and energy (and some include “information”) can’t be created or destroyed, only transformed. Removing the hydro dams doesn’t kill the power grid, it’s more like resetting a broken bone so other organic systems can heal and function better. You’ll still have a fridge, and a T.V., and you can charge your phone, and scroll your obscure websites. But in the event you decide to get out once in awhile, you’ll be seeing the greener grass, not the other side. 😉
The lost power has to come from somewhere. If you think renewable energy is you savor you have researched it at all. Wind turbines and solar panels have a finite lifespan 20 to 30 years. Hydropower is by far the cleanest form of energy. The silt in the bottom of the lakes will take years to clean up and until then the there won’t be any fish in that river. Good luck with your bright idea there slick.
To the people in charge:
Thanks a lot for keeping us informed about how u will close Irongate this summer for no reason! Not! Never once mentioned thistles! These idiots think they’re above the law! They don’t give a shit about any body or any tribe! This whole thing $tink$!!
What about water usage for farmers? Talk about catastrophic consequences.
None of the reservoirs being removed. Provide any irrigation water whatsoever. Please do a little research before you leave silly comments meant to inflame people’s emotions.
So very excited to watch Mother nature restore this river after the barriers are removed and allow this ecosystem to go back to what it was. Very greatful for all the hard work everyone is doing.
Yes!
Your not strengthening the community up here they have not only divided the communities up over a political move but now they have put the ranches and communities at risk of looseing theyre homes because of fires and interfering with our nation’s bird and fish population up on copco the American bald eagle as we all know has a hard enuff time reproducing let alone have theyre areas messed with.with gavin newsim signing off on the destruction of theyre habitats just to name 1 how can you even say this bonds the communities.
Bill, you should have paid attention in English class.
Dennis, plz don’t do this.
You don’t have to be good,or perfect in language structure,Herr Professor” to convey a acute,sharp,direct,point!
Every aspect of this project will do nothing but good for wildlife and fish in the region. The handful of residents in the area that are in opposition of this project seem to be misinformed about many things. It’s hard when you’ve studied wildlife, biology, fisheries, biology, hydrology, etc. and have to argue with people that are not only ignorant, but over emotional. Things will be just fine. You’ll see.
Sorry Todd. It will not benefit. Before the population of people in these mountain areas there were millions of beavers and damns just as big, if not bigger then the ones we’ve made. Some spanning 175 yards by 40 feet high of which my uncle and father use to land on by helicopter to deliver supplies to some of the Native Americans living up there. Without the damns the cold water needed for the fish population will be gone completely repeating exactly what they did with the Folsom aqueduct selling the cold water to LA. Our once 800,000 Chinook Salmon and steelhead runs are now lucky if we get 70,000 up the American River Chanel. The liberal environmentalist are using a narrative without seeing the big picture. Once the water temps go above 43 degrees our fish populations are going to drop where ick a fungus sets in and causes what we call a fish kill. So jump on this band wagon and ruin our fisheries for the future of our children.
Concerned Native, agreed. The natural lave dam was over 130 feet tall and never allowed salmon above Wards Canyon in the last 1000 years. People have been duped. There sure are a lot of experts on here touting so called benefits. When “experts” like Todd say things like “every aspect of this is good” ignorance abounds. Is there some good?Sure. Is it good in every way and for all? Absolutely not. Salmon will not make it up the so called 400 miles they say this is opening up. Maybe half that if we are lucky.
So EXCITED for dam removal!
It is great that American Rivers is not making exaggerated claims about the benefits of removing four of the five Klamath River dams which PacifiCorp owns. Ownership of the fifth dam, Keno, will be, or already has been, transferred to the US Bureau of Reclamation.
Dam removal is an important step but it is only the first step in what must be done if the aquatic ecosystems of the Klamath River and the salmon which depend on those ecosystems, are to be restored to health and productivity.
The next big step must be to reduce the amount of water removed from the Klamath River in order to improve flows and restore the River’s aquatic ecosystems. Irrigated agriculture currently consumes 70% or more of the water diverted from the Klamath River. Therefore, the only practical way to reduce the amount of water removed from the River and restore flows is to reduce irrigation water demand. That can and should be done by purchasing and retiring irrigation water rights from willing sellers in the Upper Klamath River Basin, as well as the Shasta and Scott Sub-Basins.
I’d like to read about American Rivers’ commitment to accomplishing this next big step needed to restore the Klamath River and Klamath Salmon.
I hope that American Rivers will now prioritize Klamath flow issues because that is the most effective way to restore the Klamath River and Klamath Salmon.
Hey there,
I read your comment and I’m just curious about how you plan to reduce the water supply needed for irrigation farming? Buying water rights doesn’t seem to fix that demand, it just serves to drought farmers in the area.
By ending practices like flood, irrigation, and delivering only the needed amount of water f
to valuable crops is a start.
By replacing unlined, dirt ditches with piped systems, efficiency can be increased tremendously! Right now, many of these diversions take hundreds of acre feet of water just to deliver a few acre feet at the field. This is Babylonian technology that should have been abandoned hundreds of years ago.
It’s too bad that it takes something like this to force these modernizations to take place, but it seems like that’s what it’s going to take. For too many years we have just scratched ditch into the dirt so we can grow some low grade alfalfa miles away from the river, that is not a good use of such a valuable resource.
So you switching the power from these clean hydro dams to coal powered electric plants!?
Well put Felice. You sound like a well informed person whom is familiar with the Klamath watershed. I believe that by just modernizing some of the historic irrigation systems and making them more efficient, both fish, wildlife, the river in general and agriculture could coexist in peace. This project is a good start and hopefully many folks will see that ecosystem restoration does not mean the agricultural interests must end. On a long enough timeline, progressives always prevail. It’s time everyone realizes that.
Hi
My name is Michael Campi and I am wondering if there are any paid positions working on the dam removals.