The Klamath River flows 253 miles
from Southern Oregon to the California coast, draining a basin of
more than 15,000 square miles. The watershed and its fisheries
have been the subject of negotiation since the 1860s negotiations
that have intensified and continue to this day.
The river has provided irrigation to ag lands since the late 19th
century. Agricultural development drained vast areas of
wetlands on the periphery of Upper Klamath Lake and in
upstream watersheds. Some of this drained acreage has been
restored and is now managed primarily for wetland benefits.
The watershed is divided geographically into two basins, upper
and lower, divided by Iron Gate Dam, the lower most dam on the
river. The Upper Basin is dry, with annual precipitation of about
13 inches at the river’s origin near Klamath Falls, Ore.
Downstream, the climate grows wetter.
Native Americans have a significant presence in the Klamath
Basin. Four major tribes have been influential in water
negotiations: the Klamath Tribes, the Karuk Tribe, the Hoopa
Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe.
The spit fishery at the mouth of the Klamath River will close
to angling at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, after anglers reached the
area’s adult fall‑run Chinook salmon quota, according to the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The closure applies
only to the spit area, defined as the zone within 100 yards of
the channel through the sand spit at the river mouth,
downstream of the Highway 101 bridge near Klamath. Recreational
fishing in that section will remain closed for the rest of the
2026 season. … As of last Friday, roughly 26% of the quota
for the stretch from the mouth to Weitchpec had been met.
… This year marks the first salmon season in three years
in which anglers can harvest adult Chinook on local rivers.
… As drought tightened its grip on the Klamath basin,
wetlands at Lower Klamath and the neighboring Tule Lake
National Wildlife Refuge began drying rapidly. Many grebe nests
were abandoned. Then avian botulism began killing waterbirds
and hatchlings. … But as the outbreak worsened, groups often
divided over the Klamath Basin’s scarce water began working
together to get more water to the refuges. Water users,
irrigation districts, conservation groups, tribes and
government agencies helped make the deliveries possible. Since
the water arrived in mid-August, bird deaths have declined.
Now, some of those groups are asking whether the emergency
collaboration can yield something more permanent.
A regional water quality control board has issued a health
advisory for several North Coast rivers where toxic algal mats
that can make people and animals sick have been found. The
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board — a state
agency responsible for protecting water quality in the region
— cautions people to keep themselves and their animals away
from toxic algal mats in North Coast rivers such as the
Klamath, Trinity, Salmon, Scott, Mad, Eel, South Fork Eel, Van
Duzen, Navarro, Russian and East Fork Russian. The agency
urges people to pay special attention to keeping children and
pets away from contact with algae or suspect river water since
the toxic algae poses the strongest health risk to them.
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:
Less than two years ago, four dams on the Klamath River were
removed. This week, the first peer-reviewed science is out —
published in Scientific Reports, part of the renowned
Nature portfolio of journals — confirming that Chinook salmon
reoccupied 88% of their historical range within just two
migratory seasons. … The study, led by CalTrout’s Shasta
Cascade Regional Director Damon Goodman alongside partners from
the Karuk Tribe, Klamath Tribes, Yurok Tribe, Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Fish and
Wildlife, NOAA, USGS, CalPoly Humboldt, and independent
researchers, is the first published quantitative assessment of
how salmon have responded to the removal of J.C. Boyle, Copco
1, Copco 2, and Iron Gate dams — the largest dam removal
project ever completed.
Irrigators in the Klamath Basin moved fast to stop an avian
botulism outbreak that threatened to kill up to 140,000 ducks,
saving most of the birds by using the basin’s
flow-through system. The outbreak killed around 13,000
birds. Irrigators used part of the basin’s flow-through system
to circulate water and prevent the disease from spreading
further. “Our managers and our staff have done a phenomenal job
of moving water around, circulating it, trying to keep water
moving,” said Scott Seus, president of the Klamath Water Users
Association. “Dead water is dead ducks.” Low water
levels created stagnant conditions that allowed the botulism to
develop. By moving water into refuges, irrigators
began solving the problem.
A deadly botulism outbreak has killed at least 13,730 birds in
the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge near the
Oregon-California border. The refuge, part of the Klamath
National Wildlife Refuge Complex, is one of the most
important stopover and breeding sites for waterfowl and
waterbirds migrating along the Pacific Flyway.
… [Biologist Teresa] Wicks said the scale of outbreaks
in recent years is unnatural, driven by human-caused changes to
the wetlands. … In early August, 14 conservation groups,
including Bird Alliance of Oregon, urged the Bureau of
Reclamation to quickly deliver water to the refuge to slow the
spread of the botulism outbreak. They requested the
release of 15,000 acre-feet of water, enough to flood one acre
of land one foot deep. [Biologist Teresa] Wicks said
this wouldn’t stop the outbreak, but could significantly slow
it down and give refuge staff a chance to catch up on
collecting dead birds.
The Yurok Tribe and other plaintiffs on Friday asked a San
Francisco federal judge to once again intervene in a
long-running conflict with the feds over water releases from
the Klamath Irrigation Project in Northern California after the
Trump administration said last year that irrigation should take
priority over threatened salmon species. The Klamath Project
supplies water to more than 225,000 acres of farmland and two
wildlife refuges in the Klamath Basin along the
Oregon-California border. But critics say the project has
decimated the local Chinook and Coho salmon population.
… Senior U.S. District Judge William Orrick didn’t
indicate on Friday how he might rule on the tribe’s motion for
summary judgment.
Following a resolution by the California State Water Resources
Board, the Quartz Valley Indian Reservation is poised to
acquire nearly 40,000 acres of ancestral land in the Klamath
River Basin. State officials said the transaction would be the
second-largest tribal land-back deal in California history and
the largest completed in a single transaction in the United
States. According to a State Water Resources Control Board news
release, the action provides the Quartz Valley Indian
Reservation with the means to acquire nearly 40,000 acres of
ancestral territory in the Klamath River Basin and restore
salmon habitat and water quality across the Scott River
watershed. …The board said it will provide a zero‑interest
$25 million loan through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
to support the purchase and help Quartz Valley establish a
salmon sanctuary, protect water quality and restore cultural
practices.
This fog-shrouded patch of coastal forest in the heart of Yurok
Country was tended by the tribe for millennia. … Now, as the
land heals from the scars of a long-running lumber mill, it has
been returned to its original stewards, who will operate it as
a public gateway to Redwood National and State Parks about 50
miles south of the Oregon border. … The announcement comes as
California’s most populous Indigenous nation works to reclaim
its homelands, a mission inscribed in its constitution. The
Yurok Tribe has so far regained 60,000 acres — about 12% — of
its 500,000-acre ancestral territory, which stretches along
the North Coast and the Klamath River.
… Prairie Creek [is] key habitat for coho
salmon, which are federally protected in this portion
of California. The stream has the potential to be particularly
productive because its headwaters are already protected under
the jurisdiction of Redwood National and State Parks.
… The Quartz Valley Indian Reservation, a group of about 400
Native Americans whose ancestors once lived throughout the
remote border region, was awarded a $25 million loan from the
state this week to buy the Scott Valley property. … As a
condition of the loan from the State Water Resources
Control Board, the tribe will help restore the land,
which is part of a watershed seen as crucial to the health of
theKlamath River Basin. … [T]he land
encompasses the creeks that give rise to the Scott
River, a salmon-rich tributary of the Klamath River,
long central to Native American tradition. In recent decades,
the Scott River has gotten increasingly low, the result of
drought, warming temperatures and agricultural water
diversions — a problem that has prompted state
water restrictions and ongoing controversy over water
management.
On this first-ever Foundation water tourwe examined water issues along the 263-mile Klamath River, from its spring-fed headwaters in south-central Oregon to its redwood-lined estuary on the Pacific Ocean in California.
Running Y Resort
5500 Running Y Rd
Klamath Falls, OR 97601
The dam removal projects- aimed at sustaining the salmon
population, are underway, with the latest drawdown being three
reservoirs on the Klamath River. The removal process has
already dramatically changed the landscape in Southern Oregon
and far Northern California, along the course of the river. The
lowest of the three remaining dams- Iron Gate, was initially
breached on January 9, followed by the J.C. Boyle reservoir on
January 16. A concrete plug in the tunnel at the base of Copco
1 was blasted away on January 23, with the reservoirs draining
quickly, leaving vast expanses of fissured mud that was the
consistency and color of chocolate cake batter. Shaping its new
course, the Klamath River is winding through the bare
landscape, but the transformation has had some unintended
consequences and saddened some residents.
…Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board took
action to protect the salmon,
unanimously extending the region’s
expired emergency drought measures. Ground and surface
water for farms will be restricted for another year if flows in
the Shasta and Scott rivers dip below minimum thresholds. State
officials say these measures are likely to kick in next
year. Water board chair Joaquin Esquivel said action
is needed because “a fish emergency” remains on the rivers.
“Time isn’t our friend,” he said at a previous meeting in
August. “There is an urgency.” The water board also
is investigating the possibility of permanent requirements to
keep more water in the rivers, after the Karuk Tribe and the
fishing industry petitioned the state for stronger protections.
That decision, however, could take years.
The Klamath River Basin was once one
of the world’s most ecologically magnificent regions, a watershed
teeming with salmon, migratory birds and wildlife that thrived
alongside Native American communities. The river flowed rapidly
from its headwaters in southern Oregon’s high deserts into Upper
Klamath Lake, collected snowmelt along a narrow gorge through the
Cascades, then raced downhill to the California coast in a misty,
redwood-lined finish.
California is chock full of rivers and creeks, yet the state’s network of stream gauges has significant gaps that limit real-time tracking of how much water is flowing downstream, information that is vital for flood protection, forecasting water supplies and knowing what the future might bring.
That network of stream gauges got a big boost Sept. 30 with the signing of SB 19. Authored by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the law requires the state to develop a stream gauge deployment plan, focusing on reactivating existing gauges that have been offline for lack of funding and other reasons. Nearly half of California’s stream gauges are dormant.
In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.
Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.
Headwaters are the source of a
stream or river. They are located at the furthest point from
where the water body empties or merges with
another. Two-thirds of California’s surface water supply
originates in these mountainous and typically forested regions.
Mired in drought, expectations are high that new storage funded
by Prop. 1 will be constructed to help California weather the
adverse conditions and keep water flowing to homes and farms.
At the same time, there are some dams in the state eyed for
removal because they are obsolete – choked by accumulated
sediment, seismically vulnerable and out of compliance with
federal regulations that require environmental balance.
20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A
Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues related to complex water management
disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances
Fisher.
For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and
California border has faced complex water management disputes. As
relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary
narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range
from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp,
farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists
– all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water.
After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon
settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise
of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the
documentary here.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of
the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is
hot off the press and available for purchase.
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the
history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental
relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a
vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and
largest reclamation projects.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36-inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
The Pacific Flyway is one of four
major North American migration routes for birds, especially
waterbirds, and stretches from Alaska in the north
to Patagonia in South America.
Each year, birds follow ancestral patterns as they travel the
flyway on their annual north-south migration. Along the way, they
need stopover sites such as wetlands with suitable habitat and
food supplies. In California, 95 percent of historic
wetlands have been lost, yet the Central Valley hosts some of the
world’s largest populations of wintering birds.
The Klamath River Basin is one of the West’s most important and
contentious watersheds.
The watershed is known for its unusual geography straddling
California and Oregon. Unlike many western rivers, the
Klamath does not originate in snowcapped mountains but rather on
a volcanic plateau.
A broad patchwork of spring-fed streams and rivers in
south-central Oregon drains into Upper Klamath Lake and down into
Lake Ewauna in the city of Klamath Falls. The outflow from Ewauna
marks the beginning of the 263-mile Klamath River.
On the Klamath River, the Upper Klamath Basin’s aquatic
ecosystems are naturally very productive due to its
phosphorus-rich geology.
However, this high productivity makes the Basin’s lakes
vulnerable to water quality problems.
Nutrient loads in the Upper Klamath Basin are a primary driver of
water quality problems along the length of the Klamath River,
including algal blooms in the Klamath Hydroelectric Project
reservoirs. Municipal and industrial discharges of wastewater in
the Klamath Falls area add to the nutrient load.
The Klamath Basin’s Chinook salmon and coho salmon serve a vital
role in the watershed.
Together, they are key to the region’s water management, habitat
restoration and fishing.
However, years of declining population have led to federally
mandated salmon restoration plans—plans that complicate the
diversion of Klamath water for agriculture and other uses.
This issue of Western Water examines the challenges facing state,
federal and tribal officials and other stakeholders as they work
to manage terminal lakes. It includes background information on
the formation of these lakes, and overviews of the water quality,
habitat and political issues surrounding these distinctive bodies
of water. Much of the information in this article originated at
the September 2004 StateManagement Issues at Terminal Water
Bodies/Closed Basins conference.
The story of the Klamath River is the story of two basins.
In the upper basin, farming has long been the way of life. Even
before passage of the 1902 Reclamation Act, settlers had begun
the arduous process of reclaiming vast tracts of wetlands and
transforming them into rich farmland.
