20,000 salmon return to the Klamath—but challenging conditions for recovery remain
In August 2024, excavation crews breached the last of four dams on the Klamath River in far northern California, marking the first time in over a century 100 years that salmon could swim above the dam sites. Now, new research published on Thursday shows that in the two years since dam removal, over 20,000 chinook salmon have migrated up the Klamath River, many past the former dam sites and into traditional spawning grounds. … Even now that the PacifiCorps dams are gone, two dams with fish passage regulate flows on the river. The federal Bureau of Reclamation manages the Link River and Keno dams, located below Klamath lake as part of the Klamath Project, which allocates water to farmers, fish, tribes, and other stakeholders.
Other anadromous fish and habitat restoration news:
- San Francisco Chronicle: Huge, historic Northern California cattle ranch to become preserve with trails
- SFGate: A ‘baffling’ 30-year wait to destroy California’s Matilija Dam
- Lost Coast Outpost (Eureka, Calif.): Construction underway on Elk River estuary restoration project, kickstarting a big wetlands fix
- Action News Now (Chico, Calif.): Lewiston Dam boosts water flow to protect migrating salmon
