Copco Lake

Removing dams from the Klamath River is a step toward justice for Native Americans in Northern California

Retrieved on: 
Mercredi, juillet 12, 2023
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The Klamath River runs over 250 miles (400 kilometers) from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California.

Key Points: 
  • The Klamath River runs over 250 miles (400 kilometers) from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California.
  • Closer to its mouth at Requa, the trees rising above the river are often blanketed in fog.
  • The Klamath is central to the worldviews, history and identity of several Native nations.
  • From headwaters in Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin-Paiute lands, it flows through Shasta, Karuk, Hupa and Yurok homelands.

People, fish and infrastructure

    • Resident fishes of the upper Klamath are highly endemic, meaning that they do not occur anywhere else in the world.
    • Many fishes, particularly Chinook salmon, steelhead and coho salmon, annually migrated to or near the headwaters of the Klamath River to spawn.
    • Dam building ushered in a new phase of attempted removal for tribes whose lives and cultures were centered along the rivers.

Declining fisheries

    • Permitting processes in the heyday of Western dam construction did not consider impacts on Indigenous nations or fisheries.
    • Construction of Copco 1 blocked all fish migration to the Klamath’s upper reaches starting in 1912.
    • Subsequently, Copco 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate dams further shortened fish migrations, cutting off access to approximately 400 miles (650 kilometers) of productive spawning and rearing habitat.
    • The Coho salmon, shortnose sucker, Lost River sucker, bull trout and euchalon all are federally listed as threatened or endangered.

Impacts on tribal nations

    • Development in the Klamath Basin has pitted agricultural interests against tribal nations and fish, particularly during dry years.
    • Losing salmon along the Klamath is traumatic for Native nations, which see the fish as a cultural and spiritual keystone.
    • For them, working to remove the dams and protect the salmon is a commitment and a responsibility.
    • These salmon are a direct tie to my ancestors – the physical representation of their love for me.
    • According to the Winters doctrine, established in a 1908 Supreme Court ruling, tribal water rights extend back to the dates when reservations were created.

Welcoming salmon home

    • Fish population responses will probably vary, particularly during the first several years after removal.
    • However, salmon and trout have evolved to migrate upstream and access important headwater spawning and rearing habitats.
    • In Yurok restoration engineer Brook Thompson’s words, “We’re all focused on finding solutions to bringing our salmon back home and creating a healthy life for them.