The Klamath River is a great place to fish and recreate, and it will only get better once the four Klamath dams are removed. After an initial flush of sediment makes its way to the ocean, the water quality will markedly improve. Salmon and steelhead will begin exploring the reopened reaches of the river and tributaries. Cold water from springs and creeks will no longer flow into warm and stagnant reservoirs, but into a lively and recovering river.

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The picture is unpleasant, but the reality is even worse. This is what happens at Copco Reservoir in the summer. The Klamath River dams trap water that warms seasonally and fosters the growth of blue-green algae that produce toxic microcystin. Routine sampling in reservoir recreation areas has found cell counts up to 4,000 times greater than what the World Health Organization considers a moderate health risk. Consequently, local health officials have posted human and animal contact health-advisory warnings at Copco No. 1 and Iron Gate reservoirs every summer since 2005. Removing the dams will vastly improve water quality. ... See more

If you jump into a river on a hot summer day, you want to land in clean water. Sadly, warning signs are often posted on the banks of the Klamath River due to unhealthy water conditions. The Klamath River is listed as “impaired” under the federal Clean Water Act due to high nutrient loads, organic enrichment or low dissolved oxygen, and temperature. The Iron Gate and Copco No. 1 reservoirs that drain into the Klamath River are listed for mercury and Microcystin, a liver toxin produced by algae that grows in the reservoirs.

But help is on the way. An epic dam removal and river restoration program is poised to commence once final federal approvals are secured. The public will benefit from improved water quality, rebounding runs of salmon and steelhead, and all kinds of new recreational opportunities. Learn more at klamathrenewal.org ... See more

“Wasn’t there an impassable natural reef on the Klamath River that halted salmon migration into Oregon?”

Indeed there was, but it formed a very long time ago and was long-gone by the time the Copco No. 1 Dam was built in 1918. A ground fissure, associated with the formation of numerous shield volcanos throughout the southern part of the High Cascades in Oregon and California generated a lava flow near the Klamath River. The lava flow formed a hardened lava “reef” about 140,000 years ago and blocked the Klamath River at Ward’s Canyon, the present location of the Copco No. 1 Dam. The lava flows formed the ancestral lake valley which is now occupied by Copco Lake. Judging by the thickness of diatomite deposits exposed around Copco Lake, the ancestral lake was likely present for a few thousand years.

But the Klamath River kept flowing, and all that water needed to go somewhere. River flows likely continued across the hardened basalt lava over thousands of years, and the relentless force of flowing water eroded down through the basalt until a harder rock, andesite, was encountered. At that time, the Klamath River reoccupied its former channel.

So salmon were blocked for a long period of time, but once the reef was worn down to the point that salmon could jump it (especially during high flow events), the fish did what their nature compels them to do. They moved upstream. Historical photographs and maps depict the state of the Copco Lake valley before the dam was constructed. The river was clearly a single-thread channel that wound its way across the floodplain of the ancestral lake. The Copco No. 1 Dam was built on that andesite foundation and notched into the basalt canyon walls.

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We wish Dave all the best in his new role!