Un-Dam the Klamath

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Demonstrators calling for removal of dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California, U.S. (2006) Klamath tribes dam removal demo.jpg
Demonstrators calling for removal of dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California, U.S. (2006)

Un-Dam the Klamath (#UnDamtheKlamath) is a social movement in the United States to remove the dams on the Klamath River primarily because they obstruct salmon, steelhead, and other species from accessing the upper basin which provides hundreds of miles of spawning habitat. The dams have also significantly harmed Hupa, Karuk, Klamath, and Yurok lifeways and communities. Copco #1, Copco #2, Iron Gate (all in California) and J.C. Boyle (in Oregon) are the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River that are being advocated for removal. [1] [2]

Contents

The movement to remove the dams has been ongoing for at least 20 years and gained national attention following the 2002 Klamath River fish kill, when at least 33,000 salmon and steelhead died along the banks of the Klamath upon returning to the river and failing to reach their spawning grounds in the upper basin. [3] The movement argues that the dams should be removed because they create toxic algal blooms, dwindle salmon numbers and create illness in the fish, threaten tribal subsistence and increase health risks for tribal members, and harm the West Coast fishing industry. Seven species of fish are threatened by the dams. [4] [5] The dam removal has also been cited as economically beneficial. [6]

Opposition groups have included local landowners around the reservoirs created by the dams and companies like PacifiCorp. [5] PacifiCorp initially agreed to dam removal in 2009, yet after a decade of negotiations pulled out of the agreement when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stated that they should take responsibility and pay for the removal, rather than simply walk away, as had been agreed upon by all parties. [2] Support groups claim environmental racism and classism as a reason as to why the dams have yet to be removed. [7] Removal of the dams would be the largest dam removal project in the world and would restore access for fish to their historical cold-water habitat. [1] [4]

Background

The Hupa, Karuk, Klamath, and Yurok have fished along the Klamath for thousands of years. [5] [8] [9]

In 1906, the first canal of the Klamath Irrigation Project in the Upper Klamath Basin was completed. By the 1930s, the irrigation project had resulted in near total extinction of salmon in the upper basin. As a result, commercial fishing and Yurok tribal members were banned from fishing.

Construction of Copco #1 dam for hydroelectric power began in 1918. The dam did not divert river water for irrigation but did prevent anadromous fish from passing that section of the river. Copco #2 dam was completed in 1925, resulting the in the dewatering of 1.7 miles of historic river channel in Ward's Canyon. The construction of two more hydroelectric dams, (J.C. Boyle in 1958 and Iron Gate in 1964) further reduced accessible fish habitat on the Klamath river, further degrading Indigenous lifeways and culture. Ron Reed, a member of the mid-Klamath Karuk Tribe, recalled that the river was the source of fish and other foods for his family into the 1960s, when the final dam, Iron Gate, was completed. [5]

In 1978, the Supreme Court of California upheld the ban on fishing for tribes. The Yurok had been fighting to regain their rights to fish since the 1930s. This decision sparked protests from the tribe and repression from federal agents and police between 1978 and 1979. At times, violence was used against tribal members. In one instance, Yurok were hosting a birthday near the river "when agents arrived and pulled out their billy clubs." In 1979, the Supreme Court upheld a 1974 decision "that the tribes were entitled to 50 percent of harvestable salmon and that they should become co-managers of state fisheries," which brought an end to the conflict. [10] In the 1980s, because of excessive logging practices by settlers, game, acorns and many other foods were depleted or destroyed. [5]

The dams increasingly led to a decline in Indigenous fisheries, meaning that "Native families increasingly filled their bellies with store-bought and government commodity foods—cheap starches, fats and sugar. Chronic unemployment, despair and addictions rose in the gap left by the vanishing life in the river," as stated by Diana Hartel, who documents how settler presence and the dams have been destructive to Indigenous health through the "collapse of First Nations fisheries [which] had brought deepening poverty and with it soaring rates of diabetes." Hartel argues that because of the ways in which settlers are "disconnected from life rhythms millions of years old... we can wreak havoc on everything around us." [5]

History

The remaining water left in the river, whatever the Project is willing to release from Iron Gate Dam, is so little in volume, so hot and so laced with pesticides and nitrates from agricultural waste water that it is often fatal for salmon as much as 100 miles (160 km) downriver. Hundreds of thousands of salmon have been killed in recent years as a result, and Klamath River coho salmon driven nearly to extinction.

—Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (2008)

Relicensing

The 2002 Klamath River fish kill, in which at least 33,000 fish were killed [3] (some estimates say that it was over 70,000 fish), [11] was important in generating support for dam removal and stopping corporate efforts to relicense the dams. As stated by Craig Tucker, consultant for the Karuk tribe, "the fish kill of '02 was sort of the same time the licenses to operate the dams expired... The fish kill sort of put an exclamation point on the need for removing the dams." [3] The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service attributed water diversions, approved by then Vice President Dick Cheney, to farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin to the fish kill. [12] [13] Cheney was subsequently investigated by the House Natural Resources Committee for his role in causing the fish kill. [14]

In 2005, PacifiCorp applied for relicense to the federal government for the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath, which would have extended the license for 50 years. Environmentalists, tribal groups, and other supporters stood in opposition to the relicensing. [15]

Early appeals to Warren Buffett by movement groups to stop the relicense were denied. In one instance, after traveling to Buffett's headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, few were allowed in to address Buffett. One of them was Merv George Jr. (Hupa), who would later become the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Supervisor, along with wife, Wendy. Wendy spoke to an image of Buffett through theater-sized conference screens and stated: "Sir, I have heard you are kind. The dams are killing the fish and destroying my people's way of life." Buffet asked if she had finished, and then, as described by Diana Hartel, "explained utility company politics as if to a child." Forbes Magazine reportedly "wondered how he could be so heartless." [5]

At an October 2008 meeting of the California State Water Resources Control Board, it was noted that "Coho, chinook, steelhead, Pacific lamprey and green sturgeon could disappear from the watershed forever" if the dams were to stay up. Hartel admits that opposition groups refused to listen to Indigenous peoples and movement groups, instead displaying that they were "proud of their place in the West and sadly ignorant of the plight of the tribes on the river." In a reflection published in 2011, Hartel, who is related to people within the opposition movement, states that "their arguments had a lot to do with settler pride of place, how we took this wild river and made it useful—building cheap hydropower, irrigating onions, growing potatoes for Frito-Lay, watering livestock." [5]

The process of re-licensing the dams by PacifiCorp was terminated in 2009, after it determined that "the dams were too expensive to fix." [5]

Negotiations

Yurok fishermen on the Klamath River (2011) Yurok fishing.jpg
Yurok fishermen on the Klamath River (2011)

On February 19, 2010, the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) was signed by multiple parties, including Ken Salazar, PacifiCorp representatives, Oregon and California state governors and settlement representatives. [5]

On April 4, 2013, the U.S. Department of the Interior released a final environmental impact statement and recommended the removal the four dams. $1 billion in other environmental restoration would be allocated to aid native salmon runs on the Klamath. [16] Ron Wyden, the senior U.S. senator from Oregon, introduced the Klamath Basin Water Recovery and Economic Restoration Act of 2014, which was cosponsored by fellow Oregon senator Jeff Merkley and by Nevada senator Dean Heller. [17]

On February 8, 2017, a federal district court judge ruled in favor of removing the dams and agreed to a plan created by tribal scientists which would reduce outbreaks of disease among fish which had reportedly infected 90% of juvenile salmon between 2014 and 2015. [18]

The U.S. Congress failed to pass legislation which would have implemented the KBRA by the January 1, 2016 deadline, which meant that a new agreement would have to be negotiated. [19] As a result, the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) was negotiated and signed on April 6, 2016. The amended agreement led to the creation of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), which would now apply for complete license transfer from PacifiCorp. [20]

In April 2020, the California Water Board approved two key permits for removing the four large aging hydropower dams on the Klamath River. The board came to this conclusion "based on evidence that dam removal would improve drinking water quality by reducing algal blooms, and would restore habitat for endangered salmon and other organisms that rely on free-flowing rivers." However, even with this approval, the project still required approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). [6]

On July 17, 2020 FERC stated that PacifiCorp would have to stay on the license during the removal process, rather than just walk away (as previously agreed to by both KRRC and PacifiCorp), "and take responsibility for cost overruns." As a result, PacifiCorp withdrew from the agreement and the dam removal process slowed once again. [2]

On October 22, 2020, the movement was covered in a video story for Vice News. In the video, it was reported that "after a decade of negotiations, the [Yurok] tribe is starting to wonder if it will ever really happen." Salmon runs were reportedly the lowest they had ever been and Yurok tribal members explained that the salmon could not be sustained much longer. [2]

As of February 25, 2022, FERC released their final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). [21] One of the four dams was removed in 2023 and the rest are expected to be removed sometime in 2023 or 2024. [22] [23]

January 2024 marked a major milestone when work crews started to release water that had been held back for the first time in a century. [24] Starting with the Iron Gate Dam, 3 dams will be decommissioned and removed over the next year. [25]

Restoring the habitat

Nearly $70 million will be made available for the Klamath Basin Restoration project through the Bipartisan Infrastruture Law, with investments totalling $162 million over five years in work restoring the regional ecosystem and repairing local economies. [26] In the largest river restoration in U.S. history, [27] contractor Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) and area tribes will plant up to 19 billion seeds. [28] Shrubs and trees that will be planted include Klamath plum, buckbrush, serviceberry and Oregon ash. The design of the planting has included 96 different species, including yampah, lomatium, mugwort and Asclepias, as well as tens of thousands of oak. [28] The targets are to plant 250,000 trees and shrubs and more than 13 billion seeds and perhaps as many as 17 to 19 billion. [28] Included within the plan is the eradication of non-native species such as medusahead and Himalayan blackberry vines. [28]

The Klamath Integrated Fish plan will combine restoration and monitoring by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and ESSA Technologies with over 100 other participatory organisations. [29] Native fish species that will be particularly focused on include: chinook salmon and coho salmon, steelhead, bull trout, redband trout, Pacific lamprey, Lost river sucker (C'waam), shortnose sucker (Koptu), green sturgeon and eulachon. [29] Director of the Yurok fisheries Barry McCovey said that he guessed the recovery might last longer than he will be alive, but the "tribes' long efforts are for their grandchildren and generations to come." [30]

Salmon are particularly important to the Yurok tribe as part of their arts. [31] "Salmon always gave us the physical and mental strength to carry out these arts" said Tori McConnell, the 2023 Miss Indian World. [31] She explained that the local environment is very special and that her spirit is part of the water, rocks, willow, salmon, deer and "the way that the air smells or the way it feels when you’re up on a mountain". [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klamath River</span> River in Oregon and California, United States

The Klamath River flows 257 miles (414 km) through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second largest river in California after the Sacramento River. Its nearly 16,000-square-mile (41,000 km2) watershed stretches from the high desert of south-central Oregon to the temperate rainforest of the North Coast. Unlike most rivers, the Klamath begins in a desert region and flows through the rugged Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains before reaching the ocean; National Geographic magazine has called the Klamath "a river upside down".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinook salmon</span> Species of fish

The Chinook salmon is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, Quinnat salmon, Tsumen, spring salmon, chrome hog, Blackmouth, and Tyee salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name chavycha (чавыча).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hupa</span> Native American people in California

Hupa are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in northwestern California. Their endonym is Natinixwe, also spelled Natinook-wa, meaning "People of the Place Where the Trails Return". The Karuk name was Kishákeevar / Kishakeevra. The majority of the tribe is enrolled in the federally recognized Hoopa Valley Tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Link River Dam</span> Dam in Klamath Falls, U.S.

The Link River Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Link River in the city of Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1921 by the California Oregon Power Company (COPCO), the predecessor of PacifiCorp, which continues to operate the dam. The dam is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klamath Project</span> Water-management project in the U.S. states of California and Oregon

The Klamath Project is a water-management project developed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation to supply farmers with irrigation water and farmland in the Klamath Basin. The project also supplies water to the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The project was one of the first to be developed by the Reclamation Service, which later became the Bureau of Reclamation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Condit Hydroelectric Project</span> Former dam in Washington, United States

Condit Hydroelectric Project was a development on the White Salmon River in the U.S. state of Washington. It was completed in 1913 to provide electrical power for local industry, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an engineering and architecture landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yurok</span> Indigenous people in California, United States

The Yurok are an Indigenous people from along the Klamath River and Pacific coast, whose homelands are located in present-day California stretching from Trinidad in the south to Crescent City in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klamath Basin</span> Region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River

The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties in California. The 15,751-square-mile (40,790 km2) drainage basin is 35% in Oregon and 65% in California. In Oregon, the watershed typically lies east of the Cascade Range, while California contains most of the river's segment that passes through the mountains. In the Oregon-far northern California segment of the river, the watershed is semi-desert at lower elevations and dry alpine in the upper elevations. In the western part of the basin, in California, however, the climate is more of temperate rainforest, and the Trinity River watershed consists of a more typical alpine climate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dam removal</span>

Dam removal is the process of demolishing a dam, returning water flow to the river. Arguments for dam removal consider whether their negative effects outweigh their benefits. The benefits of dams include hydropower production, flood control, irrigation, and navigation. Negative effects of dams include environmental degradation, such as reduced primary productivity, loss of biodiversity, and declines in native species; some negative effects worsen as dams age, like structural weakness, reduced safety, sediment accumulation, and high maintenance expense. The rate of dam removals in the United States has increased over time, in part driven by dam age. As of 1996, 5,000 large dams around the world were more than 50 years old. In 2020, 85% percent of dams in the United States are more than 50 years old. In the United States roughly 900 dams were removed between 1990 and 2015, and by 2015, the rate was 50 to 60 per year. France and Canada have also completed significant removal projects. Japan's first removal, of the Arase Dam on the Kuma River, began in 2012 and was completed in 2017. A number of major dam removal projects have been motivated by environmental goals, particularly restoration of river habitat, native fish, and unique geomorphological features. For example, fish restoration motivated the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration and the dam removal on the river Allier, while recovery of both native fish and of travertine deposition motivated the restoration of Fossil Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Boyle Dam</span> Dam in Oregon, U.S.

The John C. Boyle Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in southern Oregon, United States. It is on the upper Klamath River, south (downstream) of Keno, and about 12 miles (19 km) north of the California border. Originally developed and known as Big Bend, the John C. Boyle dam and powerhouse complex was re-dedicated to honor the pioneer hydroelectric engineer who was responsible for the design of virtually all of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project.

The Klamath River is a river in southern Oregon and northern California in the United States. This article describes its course.

The 2002 Klamath River fish kill occurred on the Klamath River in California in September 2002. According to the official estimate of mortality, about 34,000 fish died. Though some counts may estimate over 70,000 adult chinook salmon were killed when returning to the river to spawn, making it the largest salmon kill in the history of the Western United States. Besides the chinook salmon, other fish that perished include: steelhead, coho salmon, sculpins, speckled dace, and Klamath smallscale sucker.

Iron Gate Dam is an earthfill hydroelectric dam on the Klamath River in northern California, outside Hornbrook, California, that opened in 1964. The dam blocks the Klamath River to create the Iron Gate Lake Reservoir. It is the lowermost of a series of power dams on the river, the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project, operated by PacifiCorp. It also poses the first barrier to migrating salmon in the Klamath. The Iron Gate Fish Hatchery was placed just after the dam, hatching salmon and steelhead that are released back into the river.

River of Renewal: Myth and History in the Klamath Basin is a 2006 book by Stephen Most detailing the challenges in balancing economic and ecological concerns in the Klamath Basin region of the United States. The book shows clashes between federal and state government agencies, American Indian tribes, hydroelectric dam operators, and the farming and commercial fishery industries, detailing challenges and controversies around the irrigation of farmland and the preservation of the wild salmon population.

Copco Lake was an artificial lake on the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, California, near the Oregon border. The lake's waters were impounded by the Copco Number 1 Dam, which was completed in 1922 as part of the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Boyle Reservoir</span> Artificial impoundment in the U.S. state of Oregon

John C. Boyle Reservoir is an artificial impoundment behind John C. Boyle Dam on the Klamath River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The lake is 16 miles (26 km) west-southwest of Klamath Falls along Oregon Route 66.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement</span> American multi-party legal agreement

The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) is an American multi-party legal agreement determining river usage and water rights involving the Klamath River and Klamath Basin in the states of California and Oregon. Discussion of the KBRA began in 2005. Congress failed to pass legislation that would implement the KBRA by the January 1, 2016 deadline.

The Klamath River Hydroelectric Project is a series of hydroelectric dams and other facilities on the mainstem of the Klamath River, in a watershed on both sides of the California-Oregon border.

Blue Creek is a 23-mile (37 km) long stream in the Northern Coast Ranges of California, and is the lowermost major tributary of the Klamath River. The creek begins in Elk Valley, in the Siskiyou Wilderness of the Six Rivers National Forest in Del Norte County. It flows southwest, receiving several major tributaries including the East Fork, Crescent City Fork, Nickowitz Creek, Slide Creek and the West Fork. It flows into the Klamath River in Humboldt County, 16 miles (26 km) upstream from where the Klamath empties into the Pacific Ocean.

References

  1. 1 2 "UnDam the Klamath – TAKE ACTION". California Trout. October 23, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Dams Are Threatening California Salmon and a Native Tribe's Culture". VICE News. October 22, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Arthur, Damon (October 5, 2018). "Controversy over Klamath River dam removal persists as approval nears". Record Searchlight.
  4. 1 2 "Top 5 California Dams Out" (PDF). California Trout: The 2019 Report. 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hartel, Diana (May 25, 2011). "Doctor's Orders: Undam the Klamath". High Country News.
  6. 1 2 Honea, Jon (May 31, 2020). "When Does it Make Sense to Undam a River?". The Maritime Executive.
  7. ↑ "California Water Justice and Tribal Advocates announce week of action". The Willits News. September 3, 2020.
  8. ↑ Novotny, Tess (September 8, 2020). "Plan to remove 4 Klamath River dams may stall again". OPB.
  9. ↑ Do Nascimento, Martin (July 29, 2019). "Reclaiming the Klamath". Earthjustice.
  10. ↑ Danovich, Tove (September 11, 2018). "After decades, Native American tribes are regaining their fishing rights. But are there any fish left?". The Counter.
  11. ↑ Pedery, Steve (July 5, 2007). "In Klamath Basin, politics trump science". The Register-Guard .
  12. ↑ Becker, Jo; Barton Gellma (June 27, 2007). "Leaving No Tracks". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008.
  13. ↑ Martin, Glen (November 19, 2003). "Salmon kill linked to level of Klamath". San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. ↑ Kovner, Guy (July 9, 2007). "Cheney's role in fish kill probed 2002 Klamath River disaster". The Press Democrat.
  15. ↑ Whitney, David (August 12, 2007). "Discord threatens Klamath River water talks: Refuge farms "a deal-killer"". Sacramento Bee.
  16. ↑ Barnard, Jeff (April 4, 2013). "Remove all four dams on the Klamath River, environmental analysis recommends". The Oregonian. Associated Press.
  17. ↑ Smith, David (June 4, 2014). "Senate committee urged to pass Wyden's Klamath legislation". The Siskiyou Daily News.
  18. ↑ "Hoopa Valley Tribe Wins Court Case to Protect Salmon". Native News Online. February 9, 2017. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017.
  19. ↑ Greenson, Thadeus (May 8, 2016). "Uncharted Waters". The North Coast Journal Weekly.
  20. ↑ Cassell, Barry (June 22, 2016). "FERC agrees to suspend relicensing for PacifiCorp's Klamath hydro facilities". Hydro Review.
  21. ↑ "FERC Staff Issues the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Hydropower License Surrender and Decommissioning of the Lower Klamath Project No. 14803 (P-14803-001) | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission". www.ferc.gov. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Major hurdle cleared in plan to demolish 4 Klamath River dams". opb. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Klamath dam removal will aid struggling salmon populations". The Wildlife Society. November 27, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  24. ↑ Alexander, K. (January 11, 2024). "Nation's largest dam removal marks milestone: the freeing of a major California river". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  25. ↑ Hale, T. (January 18, 2024). Simmons, L. (ed.). "Water Is Freely Flowing Down The Klamath River For First Time In 100 Years". IFLScience . Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  26. ↑ Moore, H. (February 14, 2024). "Nearly $70M for Klamath Basin Restoration Projects". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service . Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Largest River Restoration Project in American History Set to Begin". State of California. December 8, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  28. 1 2 3 4 Grable, J. (March 13, 2023). "Restoring the Klamath River will take billions of native seeds". Jefferson Public Radio. South Oregon University . Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  29. 1 2 "New restoration and monitoring plan will help imperiled fish in Klamath Basin". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  30. ↑ Krol, D.U. "Restoring the Klamath river after dam removal". USA Today News. Gannett . Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  31. 1 2 3 "Klamath River Salmon, the Yurok Tribe, and the Dams Coming Down: A Conversation with Miss Indian World 2023–2024". NOAA. November 3, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
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