Salmon

Eighty-eight years after its creation by an act of Congress, Bonneville Power is widely viewed as both an engine of prosperity in the Northwest, and — at times — an obstacle to environmental goals and economic growth.

Growers and cities support the Newsom administration proposal, saying it strikes a balance for uses of Delta water. But environmentalists say the “healthy rivers” rules would actually harm California’s iconic salmon.

There's some very sophisticated technology being used to try to understand how migrating salmon and steelhead are re-inhabiting the river, now that four hydroelectric dams have been removed. Then there are other research methods that are as much art as science.

Crews have finished the demolition of a large dam near Cave Junction that hindered passage of salmon and other fish..

Less than a month after four towering dams on the Klamath River were demolished, hundreds of salmon made it into waters they have been cut off from for decades to spawn in cool creeks.

Chinook salmon are spawning in streams above four former dam sites on the Klamath River in numbers that are astounding biologists. Now, a network of tribes, agencies, university researchers, and conservation groups is working together to track the fish as they explore the newly opened habitat.

Low counts of spawning salmon could mean another year without fishing. Experts say the outlook still has time to turn around.

Biologists from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and The Klamath Tribes have discovered several salmon in a tributary of the Klamath River in Oregon, above the site of four dams that were removed earlier this year.

Siskiyou County ranchers who defied a state water order in 2022 were fined only about $50 each. Under new legislation headed to the governor, some daily fines for water scofflaws can increase 20-fold.

Now that two temporary cofferdams—one at Iron Gate dam; one at Copco 1—have been breached, the Klamath is running freely, and salmon will be able to access 420 miles of habitat that had been blocked by the dams.

The fire is moving into areas where salmon are waiting to spawn. Already in dire shape, experts worry that the Park Fire could be the deathblow to these fish.

A new report acknowledged the ongoing damage done by dams on the Columbia River. But that’s only part of the story.