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Panoramic photo of Irongate Reservoir, California, 2019.
Irongate Reservoir, California, 2019.
Photography focused on water and power in the cultural landscape of the North American West, from the arid deserts north of the Colorado River to the Klamath River basin and the sea level coast of Northern California.

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  • Klamath River Project 2023

    Klamath River Project 2023

    The Klamath River is free to flow through Ward’s Canyon for the first time in a century. Copco 2 and its headgate were fully removed in fall of 2023. Three more dams will be removed in 2024. Slide Show – Twenty Four Photographs In Retrospect It’s been eight months since last posting. Despite the apparent…

  • Undamming the Klamath

    Undamming the Klamath

    After decades of peaceful protest, scientific study, and political wrangling, four Klamath dams are finally coming down. River renewal has begun. The Klamath River Renewal Project is managed by the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) whose mission “is to remove the Klamath hydroelectric dams and restore a free-flowing river.” This is a remarkable turning point…

  • The Only Other Thing is Nothing

    The Only Other Thing is Nothing

    Searching the phrase “the only other thing is nothing” will most likely reveal this artwork by MIDABI (aka, Michael Daniel Birnberg). The first Internet hits may refer to a pristine version installed in 2021 in New York City’s Union Square, but the Salton Sea of California has its very own weathered version from March 2019.…

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From John C. Boyle’s self-published 1976 memoir, "50 Years on the Klamath," the origins of the Copco dams began in May of 1910 with the surveying of Ward’s Canyon and the valley above. He described the landscape as follows: "The river bottomlands were covered with beautiful farms used mostly for cattle raising. The homes and buildings were old but generally well kept. The river meandered throughout the area, slow flowing and deep until it reached the canyon, where it became very rapid. The soil was river silt, some subirrigated and some irrigated from numerous springs, dip wheels and inflow creeks. It would be necessary, if a dam were built at the head of Ward’s Canyon to flood practically all of those good farm lands. The people who lived on their farms were very reluctant to sell even though the prices offered were somewhat high, but they realized that power development was progress and use of electricity was rapidly becoming a public necessity" (Boyle 8). Boyle goes on to say that not all would sell, explaining that: "Kitty Ward, a full-blood Indian, lived in a tall log cabin which she and her white husband Tim built for a home. It was beautifully located on the lower end of the proposed reservoir beside flowing springs ample to irrigate some of the lands. The cabin was below the flow line so when time to fill the reservoir came, Kitty was told it was necessary for her to move. She certainly knew how to put the white man in his place. Between sobs and tears, she refused again and again to leave her home saying "I no move, let water come, I die here." Tim had been dead for several years, but Andy Marlow, as a ranch foreman and keeper of her wampum cooperated in getting Kitty to visit in Hornbrook, a visit from which she never returned" (Boyle 10). Here is a place one must proceed with caution and ask who is the author, who is the publisher, and whose agenda do these words support? John C. Boyle was regarded as a great engineer, a visionary, even a conquerer. He was also biased and unchecked in his accounting. He discarded the concerns of Native people and his words gloss over forced displacement and loss. Kitty Ward did not want to sell, was forcibly removed, and soon after died under mysterious circumstances. Now, around 106 years later, the recent draining of the Copco Reservoir has revealed Kitty Ward’s home. Her legacy lives on — this is her place. Editor’s Note: scant information exists regarding Kitty Ward and her mysterious death. Within the void of missing information it’s not hard to wonder about malice. It’s natural speculation but those who’ve done the research know more and hesitate to suggest such things. Ashland resident and historian Zachary Royce is working on book covering dam history on the Klamath, the people, and related places. I look forward to its publication.
The View From Kitty Ward's Ranch, Klamath River, California, February 10, 2024.
A little over a century ago, the Klamath River at Ward’s Canyon, Kikacéki (K’íka·c’é·ki or K’íkac’éki), homeland to the Shasta Indian Nation, was dammed and flooded for hydroelectric generation. Copco No.1 and its former reservoir, Copco Lake, are one of four hydroelectric systems now being removed as part of the Lower Klamath Project (FERC No.14083). The intent is to improve life for anadromous fish and to stabilize irrigation for farming. It’s also about how a culture manages water and power in the face of differing beliefs. Will dam removal and river renewal help save coho salmon from extinction? There is no certain answer other than, it will take time to find out. It’s fair to celebrate this heroic effort. It’s also fair to mourn the loss of a lake and its life. Killing a lake to save a river isn’t pretty. It requires a leap of faith and a belief in the renewal process. This is the tricky part - humans messing with nature doesn’t always go as planned. Regardless, for some people and wildlife alike, there will be significant burdens. If all goes well for the river, by autumn of 2024, it’s expected that migrating salmon will reach Ward’s Canyon and Kikacéki for the first time in over 100 years. The river is now free-flowing from Keno, Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. How far will the salmon go? Despite the ethnographic record, it’s not fully known how many anadromous fish actually cleared the basalt falls of Ward’s Canyon. Some folks believe salmon can’t and never did pass these falls – others believe they did and surely will again. The fish will let us know.
Klamath River at Ward's Canyon, California, February 10, 2024
On the afternoon of January 23, 2024, the dam at Ward’s Canyon, Copco No. 1, was intentionally breached in a monumental effort to restore historic salmon runs to the Klamath River of Northern California and Southern Oregon, US. The dam at Copco No. 1 is one of three in process for removal that include Iron Gate and J. C. Boyle as part of the Klamath River Renewal Project also known as the Lower Klamath Project (FERC No. 14083). Copco No. 2, a small diversion dam associated with Copco No. 1 was removed in the summer of 2023. The three larger dams will be removed by end of 2024. The river will then be ready for migrating fish. Drawdown of water is among the first steps in dam removal followed by reseeding the exposed banks and mitigation of sediment. It's a short process to empty a reservoir but to restore the river to its former self will take a generation or two. Until then, seeing beauty in the steps toward recovery begins today. Drawdown and sediment flush is among the hardest parts to endure. It's the transitional stage of loss before rebirth and it brings tears even to the most hopeful. This video is from six days after unplugging the low-level release tunnel for Copco No. 1 dam. The dying lake of Copco has reawakened as a river and its claimed its course. Kikacéki, ancestral land to the Shasta Indian Nation, has returned. The Klamath River - Forever Beautiful.
Sunset at Copco No. 1 Dam and its Reservoir – January 29, 2024
Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2, and JC Boyle, the four dams of the Klamath River Renewal Project, are no longer damming the Klamath. All but the small diversion dam, Copco 2, still need removal but river water now flows freely from Keno, Oregon to the Pacific Coast of Northern California. As part of the world's largest dam removal project, drawdown for the main reservoirs began with Iron Gate on the morning of January 10th, 2024. The upper most dam for removal, J C Boyle, was breached on January 16th, and on January 23rd the middle and oldest dam, Copco 1 was breached. At the time of this video, water from Copco's reservoir was entering Iron Gate faster than it could leave through its release tunnel. As a result Iron Gate has been rising but is destined to empty well before summer. The Klamath River - Forever Beautiful.
The Klamath River at the Iron Gate Narrows, California, January 25, 2024
Just over a century ago, the Klamath River valley of Kikacéki, ancestral homeland to the Shasta Indian Nation, was flooded for hydroelectric generation at Ward’s Canyon. The resulting reservoir, Copco Lake, named after the California Oregon Power Company, displaced thousands of years of pre-Columbian people and buried around one thousand acres under 10,989,000,000 gallons of water (Page 8, 181 FERC ¶ 61,122). A sometimes unpopular and often un-talked about aspect to building reservoirs is their historic role in cultural genocide. Removing reservoirs is an opportunity to correct past injustice. For the four Lower Klamath River dams, over twenty years of tribal advocacy, supported by deep cultural knowledge, government funded science, and patient political wrangling, has led to their removal. It’s an epic effort towards restoring a more balanced ecosystem with the intent to improve life for farmers, fish, and the folks who depend on them. The months-long process of draining the reservoirs begins January 4th, 2024 and will conclude well before summer, ushering in a new era of environmental and cultural renewal.
Setting Sun at Copco Lake, July 30, 2023
March 2023 - Dam Removal for Copco 2 has begun. After decades of peaceful protest, scientific study, and political wrangling the dams are finally coming down. The Klamath River Restoration Project is a remarkable turning point for the history of the Klamath River and its people. "Undamming the Klamath" is a photo documentary project focused on dam removal and Klamath River restoration. For more, visit meridianphoto.com.
Undamming the Klamath – March 2023
The river is alive and surrounded with life – it's naturally amazing. No one really knows with whom we all share space, but sometimes, in the quiet moment of an ending day, one may catch a glimpse. In this case, a black bear arrives from a grove of willows and crosses the river with ease, then looks back as to know the question, why did the bear cross the river?
Mad River Black Bear, June 28, 2019
An abstract meditation on sea foam and the rhythm of water and time as seen in the intertidal zone of California and the Pacific Ocean.
Intertidal, Manila California, November 29, 2016.
Time-lapse demolition of the Devil's Playground, Eureka, California, (behind the) Bayshore Mall, PalCo Marsh, a post-industrial concrete canvas that once was on the Eureka Waterfront Trail, RIP DP, 2016.
Wrecking Ball at the Devil's Playground, Eureka, California, May 26, 2016.
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Water Trough, No1, No2, and No3, Arcata, CA, 2014.
Water Trough, No1, No2 and No3, Arcata, CA, 2014