
California completes largest dam removal in US history
Matt Simons
(CN) —The largest dam removal project in U.S. history has been completed on the Klamath River near the California-Oregon border, restoring a continuous flow of water to nearly 400 miles of river habitat for the first time in over a century.
California officials announced that the final work has concluded on the removal of four large hydroelectric dams that previously blocked the river. Officials say the estimated $450 million project has finished ahead of schedule and within budget.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office touted the project’s completion in a statement Wednesday.
“This is a monumental achievement—not just for the Klamath River but for our entire state, nation and planet. By taking down these outdated dams, we are giving salmon and other species a chance to thrive once again while also restoring an essential lifeline for tribal communities who have long depended on the health of the river,” said Newsom.
The project’s completion also represents a major victory for the Native American tribes of the Klamath basin, who have campaigned, protested and filed lawsuits for decades to remove the four hydroelectric dams that previously blocked the river and destroyed local salmon populations, which many of the tribes have historically relied on.
“The tribally led effort to dismantle the dams is an expression of our sacred duty to maintain balance in the world. That is why we fought so hard for so long to tear down the dams and bring the salmon home,” said Joseph L. James, a Yurok tribal chairman.
“Our áama, ancestral companions, can now return to over 400 miles of unleashed spawning grounds, renewing a bond that has nourished our people since time immemorial,” said Russell “Buster” Attebery, a Karuk tribal chairman.
The four hydroelectric dams were built by the power company PacifiCorp between 1918 and 1962. Although hydroelectric power is typically considered a clean energy source, environmental groups and Native American tribes have pushed back on it in recent years, citing the harm these facilities cause to fish and river ecosystems.
At full capacity, the dams made up less than 2% of PacifiCorp’s energy supply—enough to power around 70,000 homes. As such, their removal is not expected to impact the power supply by much.
The destruction of the environment by the Klamath River dams has been a frequent topic of discussion in recent decades. The Klamath River was once the third-largest producer of salmon on the West Coast. However, salmon and steelhead populations in the river basin dropped dramatically once the four hydroelectric dams went up. The dams destroyed ancient ecosystems, degraded water quality and created ideal circumstances for fish diseases. They also made the fish's trip to the ocean more dangerous.
In 2002, low water and warm temperatures caused by the dam led to a bacterial outbreak that killed tens of thousands of salmon and shocked local tribes.
In 2004, tribal protestors flew to Scotland to protest a stockholders meeting for PacifiCorp’s parent company at the time, Scottish Power. Advocacy efforts continued throughout the decades, including lawsuits, some of which almost made it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After years of advocacy by Native American groups, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a recommendation to remove the dams in 2022. Removal began in May 2023. The last of the four dams came down in late August.
Despite the victory, the state’s work in the Klamath River Basin isn’t finished quite yet. This year, California officials released further details on their plans to reintroduce local salmon populations to the river.