UC Davis Study Explores Salmon Life Before, After Klamath Dam Removal
Salmon returning from the ocean to the Klamath River when the world’s largest dam removal project ends this fall is the subject of a new research documentary by scientists at the University of California, Davis.
The question they are trying to answer is if a diverse population of salmon will again thrive in the Klamath.
The answers are important not just for the river, but for dams across the world that have outlived their usefulness. Less than 100 miles south of Klamath, for instance, is the Eel River, where a dam is slated for removal in 2028.
In 2023 along, 80 dams were demolished nationwide.
“It will work,” Robert Lusardi, a freshwater ecologist and assistant professor at UC Davis, said in a July 15 new release. “There’s nothing better we could do for fish and for people in Northern California and throughout the world than to remove these dams.”
“But if we don’t track and try to better understand how things are changing,” he continued, “we’re not going to understand their importance for future efforts.”
The four hydroelectric dams being removed — J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2 and Iron Gate –were built between 1908 and 1962 to produce energy upstream of the Yurok, Hoopa and Karuk tribes and downstream of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon. Reduced water quality and drastic salmon declines followed.
The once abundant spring-run Chinook are down to less than 2% of pre-dam populations, data show.
Barry McCovey is director of the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program, which is dedicated to understanding, managing, conserving, and restoring fish populations of the Klamath Basin. He said that when the dams went in, tribal people in the Klamath Basin were not consulted.
“We knew we needed to get the dams out,” he commented. “We knew that you can’t just go and break an ecosystem in half.”
In 2002, the deaths of over 30,000 salmon marked a turning point to undam the river by Native and non-Native voices, policymakers, scientists and the public. McCovey is now working with partners to ensure the river is safe and hospitable for returning salmon.
The feature article including a video and podcast, are online at https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/salmon-diaries-before-after-klamath-dam-removal
