Klamath River

Water quality levels on the Klamath River are continuing to improve amid dam deconstruction work, according to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Deconstruction of Iron Gate dam, the lowest of the four dams along the Oregon-California border, has begun.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation announced its initial water supply allocation for Klamath Basin farmers yesterday. Despite average snowpack in the region, the projected supply still isn’t enough to meet agricultural demands.

On Tuesday, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors proclaimed a local emergency and requested that the governor proclaim a state of emergency based on water quality concerns in the Klamath River as four dams are being removed.

Approximately 830,000 fall-run Chinook salmon fry are believed to have died while passing through the lowest dam on the Klamath River in late February.

With the drawdown of three reservoirs complete, the Klamath River is flowing more or less within its historic channel.

Drawdown of three reservoirs on the Klamath River is well underway, and this step in the dam removal process has already dramatically altered the landscape along the river in Southern Oregon and far Northern California.

This week, water started being released from a reservoir on the Klamath River, kicking off the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

Members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe on Washington's Olympic Peninsula harvested about 200 coho salmon from their home river in October. That marked a milestone for river restoration a decade after two dams on the Elwha River were dismantled. It could also offer a window into the future of the Klamath River, as four dams there are being removed.

Farmers in the Klamath Basin that rely on scarce water won’t have to deal with cuts for the rest of the month, according to federal water managers. Water users had been warned last month about a potential shortfall.

Rafting the Upper Klamath River is possible through the summer thanks to releases of water from the J.C. Boyle Dam, which will be removed next year. When guides return to the Upper Klamath in 2025, this stretch of the river will be forever changed.

Restoration contractor Resource Environmental Solutions and area tribes will plant up to 19 billion native seeds as the Klamath Dams come out and reservoirs are drained.