Salmon and steelhead gain access to more habitat on a key Klamath River tributary
A little over a year ago, the four dams blocking the Klamath River came down after multi-decade advocacy efforts by regional tribes, anglers, commercial fisherman and conservationists.
It was the largest dam removal project in history, and the fish responded immediately. Within weeks, fall Chinook and coho salmon swam above the former dam sites for the first time in over a century.
Tributaries are critical
Jenny Creek saw some of the first fish to arrive. This important Klamath tributary joins the river’s mainstem just upstream of the former site of Iron Gate Dam, so continued restoration here is critical.
Salmon are already showing up in Jenny Creek again this fall. The fish arriving now will find even more high-quality spawning and rearing habitat available to them and their offspring.
Dynamite clears the way for native fish
In late September, Trout Unlimited and our partners at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Resource Environmental Solutions (RES), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Shasta Indian Nation, the Yurok Tribe and the NOAA Restoration Center removed an old, obsolete dam blocking fish passage on Jenny Creek.
CDFW staff set the explosives and demolition was captured in a breath-taking video by TU’s Evan Bulla.
(Try not to duck while watching the video! And don’t worry… the camera was set near the dam, but staff and partners took cover at a safe distance from all those pieces of flying concrete.)
Afterwards, crews from RES and the Yurok Tribe cleared rubble and rebar to restore passage for migrating fish.
Dam removal projects, no matter how big or small, take extensive planning and preparation long before the countdown to demolish the structure can begin. Funding to design and implement the project was secured by TU from sources at USFWS, CDFW, and the California Fish Passage Forum through the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC).
An ongoing commitment to the Klamath Basin
The single biggest restoration project on the Klamath River occurred when the four mainstem dams came down, providing a free-flowing river to its salmon, steelhead and lamprey populations. Dam removal also improved water temperatures and water quality in the lower watershed.
It is thrilling to see native fish returning to historical habitat, and projects like the dam removal on Jenny Creek are great examples of the ongoing restoration work happening throughout the basin.
During the years the campaign to reconnect the Klamath was underway, TU also simultaneously worked on habitat restoration efforts throughout the upper basin. This work directly benefits native Redband trout, threatened bull trout and two species of endangered suckers endemic to Klamath Lake: C’waam and Koptu.
Now that the four Klamath dams are gone, much of this work will also provide benefits to the steelhead and spring Chinook eventually returning to the Klamath’s spring-fed headwater streams.
The projects also broadly contribute to improved groundwater levels and wildfire resilience, benefiting agriculture and communities as much as fish.
As dam removal grew closer, the work to prepare for the arrival of anadromous fish above the former dam sites accelerated and expanded. To help prioritize the most impactful projects, TU staff partnered with NOAA and PSMFC to build a restoration roadmap for the Klamath’s former hydropower reach.
Barrier removal on Jenny Creek was one of the critical projects identified in this plan.
Looking Ahead
The coming years are going to be busy in the Klamath Basin. TU and our partners are committed to giving returning salmon, steelhead and lamprey the best chance possible to rebuild their numbers.
We’re leading restoration projects in the Upper Basin and in the former Hydropower Reach, advocating for monitoring support at the Oregon legislature, and supporting important research on juvenile spring Chinook outmigration and improved fish passage at Keno Dam.
Learn more about the broad scope of this work in this blog post from TU’s Chrysten Rivard: An ongoing commitment to restoring the Upper Klamath.