Out with the Old, In with the New
...Welcome 2024! This year marks the 20th Anniversary of PacifiCorp filing an application to relicense the Klamath River dams with no plans to provide for fish passage. It also marks the 20th anniversary of Klamath River Tribes' historic trip to Scotland to protest the shareholders' meeting of Scottish Power, the owner of PacifiCorp back then. What a difference a couple of decades make! While the history of the Klamath River dams is still being written, big media outlets like USA Today and Washington Post ran long and detailed stories in recent weeks. If you want to learn more about what transpired over the last two decades check out the story map at BringTheSalmonHome.org linked below. As the dams are removed in coming weeks, many see this moment not as an ending but a beginning. With the dams gone, other factors that have long held back salmon runs on the Klamath are being addressed such as the need for adequate flows in key tributaries like the Scott and the Shasta. Much of the problem stems from California's Byzantine water laws as described in detail in the New Times and Cal Matters articles included in this issue. In case you missed it, our sister watershed to the south, the Eel, is advancing its own dam removal effort. We at Klamath News wish you and yours a safe, rewarding, and fish filled New Year!
News
Restoring the Klamath River: Dam removal is just the 1st step
The first of four dams on the Klamath River was removed in summer 2023, a first step toward restoring a place sacred to local tribes.
Klamath River dam removal hopes to undo decades of ecological destruction - Washington Post
The largest-ever dam removal is underway, a milestone in the nation’s reckoning over its past attempts to bend nature to human will.
Bring the Salmon Home Story Map
How an Indigenous led grassroots movement toppled the Klamath River Dams.
Researchers, tribes, residents prepare for a century of sediment released from the Klamath dams - OPB
In the coming weeks, water will be let out from behind the three remaining dams on the Klamath River. A century's worth of sediment that has piled up behind the dams will also flow downriver.
Decision looms as Klamath ranchers, tribes battle over water - CalMatters
Salmon populations have crashed, so state officials are about to restrict irrigation again. And the controversial rules may even become permanent.
Inside California’s Fight to Fix Its Water Crisis - The New York Times
As the world warms, the state is re-examining claims to its water that have gone unchallenged for generations.
Commercial fishing groups sue 13 US tire makers over rubber preservative that's deadly to salmon | AP News
The 13 largest U.S. tire manufacturers are facing a lawsuit from a pair of California commercial fishing organizations that could force the companies to stop using a chemical found in almost every tire because it kills migrating salmon.
In Case You Missed It...
Nine breakthroughs for climate and nature in 2023 you may have missed
In a tumultuous year, the positive milestones for the climate and nature might well have gone under your radar. Future Planet rounds up nine quiet wins of the year.
PG&E files papers to remove two dams from the Eel River | Jefferson Public Radio
Friends of the Eel River and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) have joined other groups in pushing for the removal of the dams from the Eel. PG&E have filed papers to give them up.
