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Iron Gate Dam and Decommissioned Fish Hatchery, Klamath River, 11-30-2024
Wards Canyon After Dam Removal,
Klamath River, California, 11-10-24
at the Former John C. Boyle Dam and
Topsy, Oregon, 10-27-24
After Removal – Iron Gate, Copco No 1, and John C. Boyle – Autumn 2024

The Klamath River Photo Project is work-in-progress.

The Klamath River Photo Project is a multiyear visual journey of the world’s largest dam removal project and its river restoration process. 

Dam removal was completed in October 2024 and within days wild salmon were returning to areas unreached since 1912. It’s an epic story of multi-cultural, multi-agency cooperation with ongoing work toward sustaining fisheries while farming.

Known as the Lower Klamath Project and located over 190 miles upriver from the Pacific Ocean the goal for dam removal has been to return access to nearly four hundred miles of former habitat essential for the lifecycle of Chinook and coho salmon. Within the weeks immediately following dam removal, autumn 2024, salmon were spawning in locations not seen since the early 1960’s and for Oregon, not since 1912.

From its many headwaters to its estuary, the Klamath Basin is truly sublime. The ecological and cultural significance of dam removal and river renewal is difficult to fully fathom yet its significance is encouraged by the fall 2025 run as the Chinook continued to reclaim former habitat by returning to the rivers of the Klamath Tribes, the Williamson, Sprague, Wood, and beyond. Known as c’yaal, the salmon have fully returned to the Klamath’s Upper Basin.

Spencer Creek, Klamath River, Oregon, 10-26-24
Not all hatchery fish have their adipose fins clipped but all salmon without their adipose are hatchery born. This one is likely from the former Iron Gate Hatchery which was decommissioned during dam removal as part of the Lower Klamath Project. These Iron Gate fish lost their “natal stream” and had to find another, perhaps encouraging some to head to Oregon for the first time since 1912.

It’s also possible this guy was raised at the Fall Creek fish hatchery and “chose” to stray in search of something better. Spencer Creek is a suburb destination and the last side stream prior to the fish ladder at Keno Dam – the gateway to the Upper Klamath Lakes.
Fall Creek Chinook, Klamath River, California, 10-21-2024
In late January of 2024, the breaching of three hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River released unfathomable amounts of sediment, causing dissolved oxygen levels, essential for aquatic life, to plummet below survivability. For miles of free-flowing river, it was a massive and anticipated die-off: to save a river also meant to kill a lake. Often described as “short term pain for long term gain,” this phase of dam removal was among the most contentious.

at Iron Gate

at Copco and Wards Canyon

at John C. Boyle and Topsy

The Klamath River Photo Project is on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@meridianphoto

Featured are short visual tours of sights and sounds from the Klamath River watershed with a current focus on the changing landscape associated with dam removal and the Lower Klamath Project.

Upper Klamath Lake is a natural lake in South Central Oregon that abuts Agency Lake to its north. The two connected lakes are about 25 miles long with a varying width of 1 to 10 miles. With over 100 miles of shoreline it’s among the largest lakes west of the Rockies by surface area. However, the lake is relatively shallow with most of its depth at twenty feet or less. According to a U.S. Geological Survey report from 2006, 92% of the lake is less than 4 meters deep - that’s about 13 feet. The maximum depth is 15 meters - about 49 ft. Only 4% of the lake is deeper than fifteen feet (https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5209/section4.html). As shallow as it is, it’s in Upper Klamath Lake’s nature to harbor wetlands. However, much of them have been diked off and “reclaimed” for farming. Much of the remaining wetlands are now part of the 7,560-acre Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (source: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service). The Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is part of a larger complex that includes the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. These refuges are famous for hosting migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. The National Wildlife Refuge system’s mission is “to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management and, where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.” The Upper Klamath Lake itself is regulated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at the Link River Dam for irrigation of agricultural land. In this regard, Upper Klamath Lake is also a reservoir and as a shallow body of water its temperatures fluctuate widely with the seasons. During summer months and early fall, when lake water is warmest, the lake is known for its blue-green algae blooms. Microcystis aeruginosa which produces the liver toxin, microcystin, has been a growing concern. The increasing dominance of Microcystis aeruginosa is thought to be caused by high levels of bioavailable phosphorus (https://www.usgs.gov/publications/annual-variations-microcystin-occurrence-upper-klamath-lake-oregon-based-high). The Upper Klamath’s nutrient rich ecosystem, combined with shallow warm water, makes water quality a prevailing concern for resource managers who’re challenged to provide water for farming, ranching, recreation, and for municipal and industrial use while also retaining biological needs for fish, fowl, and other wildlife. As the arid west continues to dry out and heat up, it’s become in everyone’s interest to restore and preserve the resiliency found in natural systems. Wetlands have been shown to be a key tool for this. Just as poor water quality is known to be associated with high levels of phosphorus, we have learned that wetlands and marsh plants are very good at removing phosphorus. The Klamath watershed, from top to bottom, encompasses about 15,700 square miles. The Bureau of Reclamation describes it this way: “The Klamath River Basin has an area of approximately 15,700 square miles and is the second largest watershed in the State of California after the Sacramento River. The basin supports a wide range of habitats for numerous fish and wildlife species in addition to supplying water for agricultural, hydropower, Tribal, recreational, municipal, industrial, and domestic uses. The Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project, authorized in 1905, redirects lake water to approximately 1,400 farms, covering about 200,000 acres, as well as about 27,000 acres of irrigable lands in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges “ (source: Water Reliability in the West - 2021 SECURE Water Act Report). People have lived in the Klamath Basin since the end of the last ice age, around 12,000-14,000 years ago. The end of that ice age was brought about by natural patterns in global warming, and in many places around the world, the landscape has been drying out for thousands of years. The Industrial Revolution of the late 1800’s through present day has only encouraged a quicker process. The Bureau of Reclamation now predicts that “Warming is projected to increase by about 2°F (degrees Fahrenheit) in the early-21st century, 3°F at mid-century, and more than 4.5°F with a potential range from 2.5°F to 10°F by the end of the century.” If not addressed in a cohesive manner by state, federal, and local agencies; NGOs; private landowners, including farming and ranching interests; and Tribal Nations, combating the consequence of this warming is likely to fail, with catastrophic ecological consequences for farms, fish, birds, and for all of us who rely on water for life. Dire predictions are not absolute, and when accepted as a call to action, it’s the collaborative people and their organizations working with others who will make a difference for the greater good. For the Klamath Basin, its productive future depends on it.
at Upper Klamath Lake Before Sunrise on May 18, 2025
The John C. Boyle Dam was completed in 1958. Originally named the Big Bend Plant, the Pacific Power & Light Company renamed it as the John C. Boyle Hydroelectric Project on June 21, 1961 to honor Boyle’s 52 years of distinguished contribution to the electric utility industry. [Boyle 58] John C. Boyle was the engineer who harnessed the Klamath River for electric power generation. Not just with the building of dams at Big Bend (1956-1958) and Iron Gate (1960-1962), but beginning with Copco 1 (1911-1918) and Copco 2 (1911-1925) of Wards Canyon and upriver to Oregon at the Link River Dam (1920-21). [Boyle] During the year of 2024, Boyle's dam at Big Bend fell to the excavator and dump truck as part of the Lower Klamath Project, whose mission was to restore a free flowing river in order to improve water quality for salmon and quality of life for those who depend on them. Even though dam removal is complete and the Klamath River declared free-flowing, the river remains regulated by the dams at Link River and Keno. Only from Keno does the Klamath flow free and the river remains subject to the social political forces of water allocation. Although tensions between farming and fishing have entered a new era, concerns remain. Will there be enough water for everyone’s needs and will its quality sustain wildlife? Regardless of one’s position on the right to farm, fish, to build dams or to remove them, managing the Klamath for hydroelectric power and regional irrigation likely prevented proposed plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to divert Klamath water into the Sacramento Valley. [Boyle 48] It’s difficult to imagine the consequences for the Klamath watershed had that kind of diversion happened. The value in the power generated by the Klamath dams and an eye on future capacity quite possibly saved the Klamath Basin from an impoverished fate similar to that of the Owens Valley at the hands of the Los Angeles City Water Company. An eye on the hydropower potential may also have helped save the Klamath from diversion into the Central Valley of California. With the exception of the John C. Boyle and Iron Gate Dams, that “future capacity” remained undeveloped but included plans for a dam at the confluence of the Klamath and Salmon Rivers at Ishi Pishi. For those familiar with Ishi Pishi, the idea of a dam is nearly unfathomable yet remarkably similar to the Copco dams in Wards Canyon. How does one justify such a thing? For an engineer, to design a damming system is an intellectually and physically challenging project where it might become a bit easy to disregard the impact on others by thinking the greater good needs their service. The modern world required electricity to light homes, pump water, and power industry. Engineers may excel at applied mechanics and Newtonian physics, but are not so in tune with those who endure the negative consequences. Theirs is an essential service that often aims for the greater good. But it requires teamwork, political leadership, and government policy that helps guide opposing needs toward collaborative solutions. And even then, there are those who stand to lose or gain through change. Despite hydroelectric’s reputation as low carbon and eco-groovy, the lower Klamath dams and their reservoirs asserted their dominion only to illustrate how “harnessing” a river required more than an engineer’s clever reworking of water flow. Rather than build more dams as planned, a century of engineered experience lead the way toward removing them in order to renew a more resilient system that all of Klamath life depends upon. For the Klamath, dam building was a response to the societal need to electrify the twentieth century for modern life. For the twenty-first century, dam removal has been the engineered response to the unintended consequences that dams had on water quality. Renewal of the river is about change directed toward rectifying unintended consequences and for the Klamath, this means understanding how wetlands and shallow lakes, in an environment with high levels of naturally occurring phosphorus, react to human activities. Phosphorus is good for farming, but when it concentrates in water runoff it leads to water quality troubles by overstimulating cyanobacteria, leading to toxic blooms that create unhealthy conditions for humans and kills wildlife. When blue green algae dominates the system, fish can’t breathe and disease flourishes. With dams out and fish returning, it’s wildly viewed to be a new era for the Klamath Basin, but the work toward recovery and resiliency for the Upper Klamath Lake is ongoing. A lot of work is in progress and the race to return to the abundance the Klamath is famous for is on. Until a better balance is achieved, people, fish, and birds will continue to struggle for their way of life. Boyle, John C. 50 Years On The Klamath. 1976 and 1982, self published.
at Topsy Without the John C Boyle Dam, May 9, 2025
It’s the dawn of a new era for the Copco Valley. Dams are out, salmon are back, and for the first time in two years there’s public access for recreation. Rubber rafts and plastic kayaks can now freely float for miles of class II river, and for those with the white water skills, there’s the two mile section through Wards Canyon with its class IV rapids that feature steep canyon walls and the sublime basalt cliffs of Kikacéki, homeland of the Shasta Indian Nation. Public access remains a work in progress with limited hours and no camping. Actual completion dates aren’t promised until August 2025 but for those who can’t wait and are ready to go, there are now designated safe places for putting in and pulling out. It’s important to note that restoration work is ongoing, the region is remote with sparse services, cellular coverage is poor at best, and the County road along Iron Gate and Copco remains in poor shape. Road repairs are coming, but until then, take it slow and your car will thank you. The story of Klamath Dam removal and river renewal is a complex one, as is the regions’s history. For this film, it starts simply at Wards Canyon over the former location of Copco Dam No 1. A careful view will notice the concrete residue that clings to the canyon walls and some wooden remains of the original diversion dam, as well as see the rock blocked bypass tunnel seen at river’s edge. A glance up will also reveal the brick-built chimney of Copco’s guest house, where John C. Boyle stayed during dam construction. Further upriver, near the mouth of the canyon, is Copco’s initial dam location at the andesite outcrop. The Copco No. 1 dam was first begun here in 1911, but the north side proved unsuitable for abutment and was quickly abandoned, although its scar remains visible. As the canyon mouth opens to reveal Copco Valley, we briefly see Kitty Ward’s Ranch to the left, which was the Copco Cove Recreational Site in reservoir times. Now it’s becoming K’utárawáx-u (Grizzly Hill) Day Use Recreational Site. For those not savvy to class IV white water, this is your life saving get-out opportunity, for unlike the relative safety of class II rapids, Wards Canyon gets serious fast. For those with the gear and the know-how, or the guide who does, then K’utárawáx-u is where to put in for a two mile thrill ride passing through the uncontested beauty and wonder that some call the grand canyon of the Klamath. There’s a pullout at the Fall Creek confluence that makes this river run an easy get out to do it over again, or allows for another 6-7 miles with a slower float all the way through Iron Gate. This place will get busy but through August 2025, access to Grizzly Hill is limited to just two hours a day: from 12:30pm-1:30pm and 5:30pm-6:30pm, while the ramp at Fall Creek is open daily from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. For those who do choose to run the river through Wards Canyon, on your way out on the last big bend, look for the blue heron rookery on river left. It’s a remarkable tree with a dozen huge nests. This time of year there are several babies, likely hunkered down but perhaps getting ready to fledge. And, if you happen to find a car on your way through, let us know where. It began the winter in the river above Copco No. 1, but this year’s high water of over 10,000 cubic feet per second took it somewhere. Inquiring minds want to know: where’s that car?
at Wards Canyon Without Copco No. 1, May, 9 2025
California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), common fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii), and chick lupine (Lupinus microcarpus var. densiflorus) are in their second spring bloom at the former Iron Gate Reservoir. These hardy species are native to California and thrive in disturbed soils. Their special powers have been recruited to help prevent soil erosion and to reduce the advance of undesirable plant species, such as cheatgrass and star thistle. First spread by hand, successive generations will make their way to the river's edge, helping secure soil while making way for shrubs and trees. As a fun fact, these poppies are only in the seed mix dispersed by hand along the reservoir's former shoreline. Helicopter reseeding of the lower reaches didn't include the poppies. Also not included in the seed mix is wild mustard which also is in bloom. Ongoing restoration efforts are part of the Klamath River Renewal Project, also known as the Lower Klamath Project (FERC No. 14083), being managed by the Klamath River Renewal Corporation. In addition to the removal of four hydroelectric dams, the project involves restoration of the former reservoir footprints. Restoration is managed by RES (Resource Environmental Solutions), headquartered out of Houston, Texas and self-described as "the nation's largest ecological restoration company focused on restoring a resilient earth for a modern world." – The abutments seen here are the trestle remains from the original Pokegama Railroad, otherwise known as the Klamath Lake Railroad. It was completed in 1903 and later re-named the Oregon Southern Railroad, then purchased in 1914 by the Siskiyou Electric Power & Light Company to assist with dam construction and maintenance in Wards Canyon. It was operated until 1942. Details from Beckham pg. 127, with historic photo by Maude Baldwin (circa 1905). To learn more take a look a this link: https://archive.org/details/historicallandsc00beck/page/126/mode/2up Editors Note: a careful look at the columnar basalt outcrop will reveal what appears to be blast craters on river right. Could it be they were blasted for building blocks in which to build the bridge abutments? As reservoir memories fade, it's hard to imagine taking powder to this place - some scars are slow to heal. Meanwhile, the poppies sing in a new era for a free-flowing Klamath River, as it recovers from more than a century of damming and undamming.
at the Iron Gate Narrows and the old Pokegama Railroad Crossing, 5-16-25.
Except for the sound of a free flowing river and bird song, all is quiet at the former dam. It was not always so, for just a year ago, the Iron Gate Dam still stood tall and proud. Its days of damning fish are now over and to attest, immediately upon removal, migrating salmon were seen returning to ancestral streams, finding their way to places such as Jenny Creek, Fall Creek, and Beaver Creek. Around five hundred even made it to Spencer Creek in Oregon. Go, fish, go! The ongoing phase of Klamath dam removal has well transitioned into river renewal where natural processes, aided by human efforts, are slowly taking over. But it’s not just that, and it’s not all about the fish - the new era for the Klamath includes river running! As of May 15th, river access becomes available to the public and the former reservoirs of Copco and Iron Gate become accessible by boat. Watch out for Kikacéki (Wards Canyon) though. Only experienced whitewater folks should give that a go. Thankfully, there’s a new pullout at Copco Cove now known by its Shasta name, K’utárawáx·u (Grizzly Hill). Tread lightly, for this sublime landscape is held sacred by the Shasta Indian Nation. It only takes a moment to know why - it’s palpable. To learn more about recreational opportunities check out this newsletter from the Klamath River Renewal Corporation: https://mailchi.mp/klamathrenewal/krrc-newsletter-vol-no-18 and their website here: https://klamathrenewal.org/recreation/ _ As early as the 1920s, the dam at Iron Gate was conceived as part of the Federal Power Commission’s requirement for the California Oregon Power Company (Copco) to develop and utilize all power resources of the Klamath. Water was to be used, and if not for electric generation, certainly for farming. Iron Gate was built in 1960-1962. In addition to hydroelectric power generation, Iron Gate, with no fish ladder, put a hard stop to anadromous fish migration upstream. Iron Gate and its sister dam, Copco No 1 located in Wards Canyon (Kikacéki), blocked hundreds of miles of spawning grounds necessary for salmonid lifecycles. Salmon are dependent on cool water, and the side streams of both upper and lower Klamath are necessary for spawning the next generation. The dams blocked access and their reservoirs stored summer heat. Warm water coupled with naturally occurring phosphorus created perfect conditions for toxic algae blooms, creating conditions for disease and unease within the watershed above and below the dams. The c'waam and koptu of the Upper Klamath Lakes and ocean-going salmon and lamprey, as well as cultural diversity of upriver and downriver Tribes, were paying the price for a broken system. As conditions for fish worsened, not just on the Klamath but around the world, the commercial fishing industry as well as Tribal communities were seeing consequences first hand. As early as the 1980s commercial fishing interests suspected the Klamath River dams were to blame for declining fish stocks. Indigenous cultures with thousands of years of shared history, all agreed. However, dam removal would not become a topic of popular conversation until 2002 when drought forced tough decisions for water allocation. The Klamath River basin rarely has enough water for everyone who wants it, let alone for those with legal rights to use it. In 2001, while in drought it came down to enough water for fish or agriculture. An effort to supply farming with their needs to complete harvest led to an exceptionally low flow for the Klamath River. Water quality plummeted and disease spread, killing over 34,000 salmon, mostly chinook, during their 2002 fall migration. This event turned the tide where most came to agree that whether for farms or for fish, something had to change. The first big opportunity for change came as the dams came due for relicensing. Unlike the initial license to operate, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 coupled with the Federal Power Act triggered requirements to provide fish passage. As a result, PacifiCorp, the owner and operator, chose to decommission the aging infrastructure and agreed in 2016 to surrender their license to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, whose mission was to remove the dams and restore a free flowing river. On October 2nd, 2024, the KRRC completed their mission “on time and on budget” (Mark Bransom, CEO, 10-5-2024, Yreka, California). Restoration of the exposed reservoir beds, headed by Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) has been in process for years, with another five years or more to manage regrowth: encouraging native plants while discouraging invasive ones. There’s still a tremendous amount of work to do, and whether it's for fish or farms, it's really about both and how to sustainably feed growing populations of people while preserving the natural world that makes it possible. Sources: https://www.opb.org/article/2022/11/1... https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterr... John C. Boyle, 50 Years on the Klamath, 1976.
at Iron Gate Without Dam
Chinook salmon are the largest of the Pacific salmon and are also called King salmon. They’re anadromous, meaning they have the unusual ability to live in fresh water rivers and streams as well as in the ocean. For salmon, their lifecycle depends on both. Salmon are born in a river or in its tributaries, often hundreds of miles from the river’s mouth. They spend their adult life in the ocean eating smaller fish. If they survive, they return home to produce the next generation. For the Upper Klamath and Trinity River Chinook Salmon, that’s a 3-4 year life cycle for most individuals. Once migration is complete and a suitable gravel bed found, the female builds her redd, a nest for holding eggs that, once deposited, are soon fertilized by nearby males who’ve been waiting and sparring for their chance to pass the along their genes. Over a few days she’ll continue to spawn and defend her redd while passing males contribute to the process until she weakens and dies. At this point in her life she’s eaten nothing since entering the river, maybe 200 miles ago. Since then, her body has devoted everything to her eggs and to the swim to deliver them. The cycle, once complete, is not just about the eggs laid or their hatch in eighteen weeks. It’s also a remarkable exchange of ocean-rich nutrients that help sustain a landscape that’s co-evolved with others that have come to depend on it. For more about this, check out page 313 of the book, “The Klamath River Mountains, A Natural History” by Michael Kauffmann and Justin Garwood. Anyone interested in the diversity of the Klamath will find this book enjoyable. Salmon and the Klamath have a long history together. For most of the river’s millions of years, it was without people. Then, roughly ten to fourteen thousand years ago, people began to explore and settle within the Klamath region. Different tribes’ creation stories speak of time-immemorial, and in their thousands of years of life on the Klamath, they have been working out the balance. Despite eating lots of fish, the historic record often speaks of a time when salmon were so thick one could walk across their backs to cross a river. Now, as modern day threatened and endangered species, the Chinook and Coho salmon are celebrated as they return to reclaim former homeland. With dam removal complete and barriers removed, the salmon are heading farther inland than years past. Some are choosing Jenny Creek, then next is Fall Creek, and off through Wards Canyon for the first time since 1912 where they’re choosing Shovel Creek and Spencer Creek and even the fish ladder at Keno Dam in Oregon. For these fish in Fall Creek there’s some history here. Many could be imprinted by having been raised at the hatchery, where they were first caught at Iron Gate but raised in waters of Fall Creek located within a mile of the Klamath River just below Wards Canyon. These fish are part of the renewal plan, which includes a state-of-the-art fish hatchery with an eight-year mission to help repopulate the Upper Klamath’s Chinook and Coho populations. One can often tell a hatchery fish from a wild one by its adipose fin (topside near tail). A portion of hatchery fish have their adipose fin clipped to help calculate differences in hatchery and wild returns. If the adipose is clipped, it’s a hatchery fish. If it is not clipped, it could be a wild fish or a hatchery fish. Interestingly, most fish in this video sequence have unclipped fins. It’s a fun detail look for. Another detail of interest as seen in this video is the presence of smaller fish, first a rainbow trout parr and later others. Trout know where to find a good meal, and aquatic invertebrates disturbed by redd building, as well as freshly laid salmon eggs, are on the menu. For more information, take a look at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) pages on Chinook Salmon (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/chinook-salmon-protected) and Coho Salmon (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/coho-salmon-protected), as well as the book “The Klamath Mountains, A Natural History” (https://backcountrypress.com/book/the-klamath-mountains-a-natural-history/ ). And a note about sources of information: thank you to National Marine Fisheries Service fish biologist Daniel Free for providing the identification and information regarding the rainbow trout and for fielding questions about salmonids and lamprey. Additional information and assistance with Klamath River fish knowledge and the Lower Klamath Project has come from Shari Whitmore, fish biologist for the Klamath branch of NOAA, and is much appreciated.
at Fall Creek with Chinook Salmon, Late October, 2024
At the confluence of Spencer Creek and the Klamath River, near Keno, Oregon in the former foot print of the Topsy Reservoir, formerly held by the John C. Boyle Dam, salmon are returning from the Pacific Ocean for the first time since the 1912 damming of the river at Wards Canyon (Copco No 1) just south of the state line. This is a remarkable story and a fulfillment of an uncertain dream: restore a free flowing Klamath River to allow migrating salmon the freedom to move as they had for millions of years. To let the salmon regain 400 miles of former habitat was the result of extensive research by the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, federal agencies, and numerous NGOs who came to agree that damming the Klamath River had adverse effects on fish populations by limiting migration and by creating conditions that encouraged disease and mortality. Despite a hatchery at Iron Gate Dam, too few salmon survived river conditions in order to return home and spawn. As is often the case regarding troubles with fish, water quality was to blame and for the Klamath, reservoirs held summer heat, causing river temperatures to be excessively high in summer and fall. Warm water is uncomfortable for salmonids and prone to disease causing organisms such as cyanobacteria and C. shasta, a microscopic parasite that kills fish. To restore the river system to more fish friendly conditions the Klamath River Renewal Corporation completed their mission of dam removal on October 2, 2024 at Iron Gate. On October 3 the first “aquatic species” was caught by sonar moving up river from what once was the end of the line at the former Iron Gate Hatchery. By size and motion, a scientific guess called it the first fall Chinook of 2024 to reach Iron Gate. Who knows where that fish went with its new found freedom of travel? It may have been one of the hundreds of fish later seen in Jenny Creek or Fall Creek, both of the former Iron Gate Reservoir or perhaps it was the fish spotted by ODFW on October 16 in Spencer Creek just above the former J. C. Boyle Dam near Keno, Oregon. About this same time the sonar system as reported by CalTrout estimated two hundred ninety fish in a single day going up river. The salmon are on the move. The salmon cohort of 2024 have arrived and they have discovered a very different river than the one they were born in. Dam removal has been hard on the river with high turbidity with less dissolved oxygen but it’s recovering and without obstruction for the first time since 1912. There’s still a lot of work to do and much of that is now in nature’s hand as 60-112 years of backlogged sediments make their way downstream, rebuilding river side soils and providing willows a chance to root. While challenging for fish and wildlife, the Klamath and its salmon are no strangers to silt and the current numbers of migrating fish, as Morgan Knechtle of CDFW put it, “are extremely encouraging with widespread distribution.” The Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe, CDFW, ODFW, NGOs, and many others do a lot of fish monitoring. The data that’s currently being collected is cause for optimism and will help guide the restoration process as feedback comes in. It’s too early for comparison to years past since migration is ongoing but ODFW has reported exciting news. As of October 30, the maximum daily count of individual Chinook salmon in Spencer Creek is one hundred fifteen individuals with forty-two redds. In the Klamath River above the former J. C. Boyle Dam eighty eight Chinook salmon have been observed with sixty-two redds and below the former dam, forty Chinook with twelve redds. Additionally, ODFW reports that two salmon were observed in the fish ladder by the Bureau of Reclamation on October 25th. Tommy Williams of the Southwest Fishery Science Center noted, “none of us were betting that this many fish would move upstream into Oregon as fast as they did.” “The fish are already exceeding expectations” states Amy Bowers Cordalis, Yurok member and founding Executive Director for Ridges to Riffles. “Our goal is to restore the balance between humans and nature, not just within the Klamath Basin, but also within the ocean environments that are dependent on Klamath salmon. And we do that through… nature based solutions, right? Klamath Dam removal is all about nature based solutions.” “It’s a remarkable time. We all get to be the generation that sees the river's restoration, the salmon’s restoration, and then the river's ability to... support the humans.” The goal is sustainable, dependable, and bountiful numbers of fish for all to enjoy and for the food chain to devour. To learn more about why salmon are important check out the Pacific Fishery Management Council at: (https://www.pcouncil.org) or NOAA Fisheries at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/sustainable-fisheries/ecosystem-interactions-and-pacific-salmon and https://www.ridgestoriffles.org.
at Spencer Creek with Chinook Salmon and Large Woody Debris, Klamath River Near Keno, 10-26-2024.
October 6, 2024 was a quiet morning at Iron Gate. Dam removal had been completed just a few days before, but Caterpillars on river left still crawled. Beep, beep, beeping until the first quiet day on Sunday the 6th, when the birds awoke to silence and the sounds of a free flowing river. - As early as the 1920s, the dam at Iron Gate was conceived as part of the Federal Power Commission’s requirement for the California Oregon Power Company (Copco) to develop and utilize all power resources of the Klamath. Water was to be used, and if not for electric generation, certainly for irrigation. If there was "extra" water it meant the possibility of diversion to the Sacramento Valley. Complications from shifting water rights and priorities for irrigation under Oregon's 1931 Hydroelectric Act led Copco to shift resources to California where it had powerhouses in Wards Canyon and Fall Creek. Iron Gate was in a good position, but disagreements over irrigation water rights persisted and Copco postponed the building of Iron Gate indefinitely. Water politics are always complicated, and crossing state lines especially so. Physically building dams and removing them might take a year or two, but only after decades of paperwork. Iron Gate was eventually built in 1960-1962. In addition to hydroelectric power generation, Iron Gate, with no fish ladder, put a hard stop to anadromous fish migration upstream of the dam. Iron Gate blocked hundreds of miles of spawning grounds necessary for the salmonid lifecycle. Salmon are dependent on cool water, and the side streams of both upper and lower Klamath are necessary for spawning the next generation. The dams blocked access and their reservoirs stored summer heat, which not only made conditions uninhabitable above the dams, it influenced river health, creating dangerous conditions for salmon below. As conditions for salmon worsened, not just on the Klamath but around the world, the commercial fishing industry as well as Tribal communities were seeing consequences first hand. As early as the 1980s commercial fishing interests suspected the Klamath River dams were to blame for declining fish stocks. Indigenous cultures downriver from the dams, the Karuk, Yurok, and Hoopa with thousands of years of shared history, all agreed. However, dam removal would not become a topic of popular conversation until 2002 when drought forced tough decisions for water allocation. The Klamath River basin rarely has enough water for everyone who wants it let alone for those with legal rights to use it. In 2001 while in drought it came down to enough water for one or the other. An effort to supply farming with their needs to complete harvest led to an exceptionally low flow for the Klamath River. Water quality plummeted and disease spread, killing over 34,000 salmon, mostly chinook, during their 2002 fall migration. This event turned the tide where most came to agree that whether for farms or for fish, something had to change. The first big opportunity for change came as the dams came due for relicensing. Unlike the initial license to operate, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 coupled with the Federal Power Act triggered requirements to provide fish passage. As a result, PacifiCorp, the owner and operator, chose to decommission the aging infrastructure and agreed in 2016 to surrender their license to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, whose mission was to remove the dams and restore a free flowing river. On October 2nd, 2024, the KRRC completed their mission “on time and on budget” (Mark Bransom, CEO, 10-5-2024, Yreka, California). Restoration of the exposed reservoir beds, headed by Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) has been in process for years, with another five years or more to manage regrowth: encouraging native plants while discouraging invasive ones. According to John C. Boyle and others, the threat of water being diverted to the Sacramento Valley was only prevented by unanimous agreement among Klamath Basin water users that Klamath River water was for the Klamath Basin. Diversion to the Sacramento River would have been disastrous for the Basin. The perceived value added by Boyle's dams prevented diversion, thus saving Klamath River water for the Klamath Basin rather than for California's Central Valley hundreds of miles away. The fact that Klamath water remains in the Basin is a fact that everyone in the Basin is thankful for. There’s still a tremendous amount of work to do, whether it’s fish and farms or not, it’s about food and how to sustainably feed growing populations of people while preserving the natural world that makes it possible. Sources: https://www.opb.org/article/2022/11/1... https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterr... John C. Boyle, 50 Years on the Klamath, 1976.
Sunrise at Iron Gate, Klamath River, October 6, 2024
Dear Salmon, We’ve been busy this year and have made a mess of your river. We’re all sorry about that but good things are coming. Klamath dam removal has often been described as a “short term pain for a long term gain.” It’s truly a messy process. I’m sure you’ve noticed the low levels of dissolved oxygen and high levels of turbidity but fear not, these troubles are passing, you’ve got this. If the going gets tough please know your next generation will have an easier time of it. But for yourself, persist, as you have for millions of years, for above Iron Gate the water’s looking great - this year, your run is heroic. You’re among the first in over a century to reclaim hundreds of miles of ancestral waterway. The Klamath runs free again, for you. Will you choose to pass the narrows of Iron Gate? How about Ward’s Canyon and Kikaceki, or the community of Copco Lake? Or maybe head for Oregon and the Upper Klamath? If that’s a bit far this year then what about the Frain Ranch? It too is among the beautiful places you once knew. To go all the way to Chiloquin, a few obstacles remain but worry not, stay to the right when reaching Keno, look for the ladder. It’s a bit small but show us you can make it and you’ll get a new one. If you choose to climb further and make it to the Link River, veer to the left. There’s a ladder there too. Don’t worry much about the people, they’re out enjoying a beautiful walk between Upper Klamath Lake and Lake Ewauna. For now these folks of Klamath Falls won’t eat you. Once you clear Pelican Cove, you’re free to go. Make it to Chiloquin and you’re famous forever. Fame can be lonely so be sure to bring friends. – Dam removal associated with the Lower Klamath Project was declared complete as of October 2, 2024. Much work remains in the restoration process but the river now flows free for anadromous fish (salmon, steelhead, and lamprey) from the rivers that feed Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon to Requa, California for the first time since 1912. Salmon, with a history of millions of years and for Indigenous cultures with over 7,000 years, the balance has been reset. Despite the controversies that surround big change, big change is happening. It is work in progress and the work is incomplete. Bridges need building and ladders need replacing for fish and for communities all along the river and former reservoir. A sea change is in motion. It’s now up to the fish to test the waters and for communities to listen - the salmon will tell us what’s next.
At the Iron Gate Narrows, October 4, 2024.
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