Un-Dam the Klamath
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: One dam has now been removed and the others are in the process of removal..(November 2023) |
Un-Dam the Klamath (#UnDamtheKlamath) is a
The movement to remove the dams has been ongoing for at least 20 years and gained national attention following the
Opposition groups have included local landowners around the reservoirs created by the dams and companies like
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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]
References
- ^ a b "UnDam the Klamath – TAKE ACTION". California Trout. October 23, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Dams Are Threatening California Salmon and a Native Tribe's Culture". VICE News. October 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c Arthur, Damon (October 5, 2018). "Controversy over Klamath River dam removal persists as approval nears". Record Searchlight.
- ^ a b "Top 5 California Dams Out" (PDF). California Trout: The 2019 Report. 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hartel, Diana (May 25, 2011). "Doctor's Orders: Undam the Klamath". High Country News.
- ^ a b Honea, Jon (May 31, 2020). "When Does it Make Sense to Undam a River?". The Maritime Executive.
- ^ "California Water Justice and Tribal Advocates announce week of action". The Willits News. September 3, 2020.
- ^ Novotny, Tess (September 8, 2020). "Plan to remove 4 Klamath River dams may stall again". OPB.
- ^ Do Nascimento, Martin (July 29, 2019). "Reclaiming the Klamath". Earthjustice.
- ^ Danovich, Tove (September 11, 2018). "After decades, Native American tribes are regaining their fishing rights. But are there any fish left?". The Counter.
- ^ Pedery, Steve (July 5, 2007). "In Klamath Basin, politics trump science". The Register-Guard.
- ^ Becker, Jo; Barton Gellma (June 27, 2007). "Leaving No Tracks". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008.
- ^ Martin, Glen (November 19, 2003). "Salmon kill linked to level of Klamath". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Kovner, Guy (July 9, 2007). "Cheney's role in fish kill probed 2002 Klamath River disaster". The Press Democrat.
- ^ Whitney, David (August 12, 2007). "Discord threatens Klamath River water talks: Refuge farms "a deal-killer"". Sacramento Bee.
- ^ Barnard, Jeff (April 4, 2013). "Remove all four dams on the Klamath River, environmental analysis recommends". The Oregonian. Associated Press.
- ^ Smith, David (June 4, 2014). "Senate committee urged to pass Wyden's Klamath legislation". The Siskiyou Daily News.
- ^ "Hoopa Valley Tribe Wins Court Case to Protect Salmon". Native News Online. February 9, 2017. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017.
- ^ Greenson, Thadeus (May 8, 2016). "Uncharted Waters". The North Coast Journal Weekly.
- ^ Cassell, Barry (June 22, 2016). "FERC agrees to suspend relicensing for PacifiCorp's Klamath hydro facilities". Hydro Review.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Major hurdle cleared in plan to demolish 4 Klamath River dams". opb. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
- ^ "Klamath dam removal will aid struggling salmon populations". The Wildlife Society. November 27, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
- ^ 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.
- IFLScience. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- State of California. December 8, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ South Oregon University. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- ^ Krol, D.U. "Restoring the Klamath river after dam removal". USA Today News. Gannett. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ NOAA. November 3, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2024.