Last year, after the historic removal of four dams on the Klamath River, thousands of salmon rushed upstream into the long-blocked waters along the California-Oregon border, seeking out the cold, plentiful flows considered crucial to the fish’s future. The return of salmon to their ancestral home was a fundamental goal of dam removal and a measure of the project’s success. However, a problem emerged. The returning salmon only got so far. Eight miles upriver from the former dam sites lies a still-existing dam, the 41-foot-tall Keno Dam in southern Oregon. The dam has a fish ladder that’s supposed to help with fish passage, but it didn’t prove to work. While many proponents of dam removal say they’re thrilled with just how far the salmon got, most of the 420 miles of waterways that salmon couldn’t reach before the dam demolition still appear largely unreachable. 

Other dam removal news:

• San Francisco Chronicle: Opinion: One way Trump’s DOGE cuts could actually help environmentalists in the West
• Oregon Public Broadcasting: Indigenous youth prepare for the first descent down the Klamath River after dam removal
• Zocalo Public Square: Blog: Dear DOGE, tear down those dams!