page_title: Klamath River
section_title: Salmon controversy and proposed dam removal
hierarchical_section_title: Klamath River / Fish and wildlife / Salmon controversy and proposed dam removal
caption_attribution_description: English: Cataraft in Caldera, Klamath River (original flickr description: "Neil showing off in Caldera")
context_page_description: The Klamath River flows 257 miles 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. It drains an extensive watershed of almost 16,000 square miles that stretches from the arid country of south-central Oregon to the temperate rainforest of the Pacific coast. Unlike most rivers, the Klamath begins in the high desert and flows toward the mountains – carving its way through the rugged Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains before reaching the sea. The upper basin, today used for farming and ranching, once contained vast freshwater marshes that provided habitat for abundant wildlife, including millions of migratory birds. Most of the lower basin remains wild, with much of it designated wilderness. The watershed is known for this peculiar geography, and the Klamath has been called "a river upside down" by National Geographic magazine.
  The Klamath is the most important North American river south of the Columbia River for anadromous fish migration.
context_section_description: Historically, the Klamath River was once the "third most productive salmon river system in the United States", after the Columbia and the Sacramento. Eutrophication and raised water temperatures induced by the construction of dams have created worsening conditions for migrating salmon, especially in years of drought.
  Irrigation along the upper Klamath and the Shasta and Scott rivers, along with the almost-total diversion of the upper Trinity River, have all lowered the total river flow supporting out-migrating young salmon in spring and in-migrating adult salmon in the fall. In the 1960s, a project was proposed to divert the entire Klamath River to Central California and Southern California, an undertaking known as the Klamath Diversion, but this project was defeated. It would have limited salmon to the last 12 miles (19 km) of the entire river. In 2002, a major fish kill took its toll on the river and the Tribes that depend on it. More than 34,000 salmon died alone, due to the low water flow and poor management. In 2005, PacifiCorp applied to the federal government to relicense its four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath for up to 50 years. Environmentalists opposed the relicensing, arguing that the dams should be removed to reopen the upper Klamath to salmon. Humboldt State University's Associated Students passed a resolution authored by activist Jason Robo in support of dam removal.
  An agreement was signed on February 18, 2010.
  Two years of closed-door negotiations among farmers, Indian tribes, fishermen, conservation groups and government agencies had resulted in a plan to work toward a detailed settlement of Klamath water usage. It also called for the removal of four hydroelectric dams—the Iron Gate Dam and Copco dams 1 and 2 (in California), and the John C. Boyle Dam (in Oregon)—now operating along 300 miles (483 km) of the Klamath River, starting in the year 2020, as well as for restoration projects.
  A non-binding "Agreement in Principle" (AIP) among four parties—PacifiCorp, the federal government, California, and Oregon—to remove the four dams had been announced on November 13, 2008. PacifiCorp ratepayers would fund part of the plan and the State of California would fund much of the remaining projected cost. Total cost would be around $800 million. The agreement required the federal government to scientifically assess the costs and benefits of the dam removals, determine whether such action is in the public interest, and to make a final determination by March 31, 2012, as to whether the benefits of the project will justify the costs, although that deadline was missed. A local group, the Klamath County Tea Party Patriots, formed to oppose the agreement, and succeeded in unseating local elected officials who were supportive of the deal. On December 31, 2012, the parties renewed their agreement, providing more time for federal, Congressional, and California electorate approval to finalize dam removal.
  On April 4, 2013, the U.S. Department of the Interior released its final environmental impact statement on the plan, recommending the removal of all four dams and $1 billion in other environmental restoration to aid native salmon runs on the Klamath. 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 his fellow Oregon senator Jeff Merkley and by Nevada senator Dean Heller.  
  Klamath River Renewal Cooperation (KRRC) is applying for complete license transfer of the Iron Gate, COPCO 1&2 (California and Oregon Power Company) and JC Boyle Dams to KRRC's jurisdiction. This license transfer is currently pending before the Federal Energy and Regulatory Committee (FERC). FERC should rule on complete license transfer to KRRC sometime in 2020.  Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Certification will have to be sought as well once FERC grants license surrender orders to Pacific-Corp to KRRC jurisdiction. Kiewit Construction has been hired as the company for actual dam removal in early 2022. Construction costs for dam removal and r
caption: Cataraft on the Klamath River
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