Tag Archives: lower Klamath River

FERC Staff Recommend Removal of Lower Klamath Dams in Final Environmental Document

After nearly two decades of painstaking negotiations and political turbulence, the largest river restoration project in American history is set to begin early next year. This morning, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff released the long-awaited Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for license surrender, decommissioning and removal of four dams – Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate – on the Lower Klamath River, a move that would restore over 400 miles of critical salmon spawning habitat in the Klamath Basin. The 1,242-page document contains FERC staff’s evaluation of the environmental, cultural and economic impacts associated with dam removal. In short, staff agree that dam removal is the best path forward. >click to read< 10:08

Serious fish kill consumes the Klamath River

As it enters the Yurok Reservation, the Lower Klamath River is as picturesque as it gets. Clear water rushes over gentle rapids, framed by verdant hills and a cerulean sky. An untrained eye would never notice the devastation beneath the surface — save for the tiny fish floating lifeless in the water. Over the past several weeks, an outbreak of the parasite Ceratonova shasta has ripped through young salmon throughout the lower reaches of the Klamath watershed. Driven by high temperatures and low flows out of Iron Gate Dam, the disease is resulting in what the Yurok Tribe is calling a “catastrophic” fish kill. photos,  >click to read< 09:36

Cost, timeline for removing Klamath River dams updated

Removing four hydroelectric dams along the lower Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California is expected to cost just under $434 million and could happen by 2022, according to a new filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corp. submitted plans with FERC in 2018 to decommission and demolish J.C. Boyle, Copco Nos. 1 and 2 and Iron Gate dams, which block about 400 miles of upstream habitat for migratory salmon and steelhead. >click to read<  19:06

Updated: Reclamation reverses course on water for Klamath River

Water release from Trinity Reservoir will begin Saturday, Aug. 23, at 7 a.m.; Public urged to take safety precautions on or near the river while flows are high. The Bureau of Reclamation will release additional water from Trinity Reservoir to supplement flows in the lower Klamath River to help protect the  Read more here  12:53