The deconstruction of four dams along the Klamath River are complete, but will Chinook salmon return to spawn? A few have.
A view of the Klamath River on July 19, 2023. Now that four dams are gone, a few salmon have been spotted above the dam sites. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters
Sixty years ago, I was a reporter for the Klamath Falls Herald and News and with my family lived in a small house on the, which meanders through 257 miles of sparsely populated, mountainous land in Southern Oregon and Northern California before flowing into the Pacific Ocean. At the time, Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River were primarily seen locally as sources of water for expansion of the Klamath Basin’s agricultural industry, particularly alfalfa and potatoes.
COPCO, as the utility was known, and its dams were eventually absorbed into Pacific Power and Light Co., which even later became Pacificorp and was acquired by billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company.As the dams aged, their federal operating licenses expired and environmental groups and American Indian tribes living along the Klamath’s banks served notice that they would oppose re-licensing and demand that the dams be demolished to restore salmon runs.
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