# Klamath River dam-o-litions! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 17, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834 "2020-11-17T22:40:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/1 "2020-11-17T22:40:33Z")
This has been in the works for a long time, but has stalled out in the past. It looks like they’ve finally gotten everything together to be able to submit a real plan and actually move forward with it. > **[Historic deal revives plan for largest US dam demolition](https://apnews.com/article/dams-fish-salmon-oregon-environment-71045373e7063bfff75fc43d15885639)** > > PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An agreement announced Tuesday paves the way for the largest dam demolition in U.S. history, a project that promises to reopen hundreds of miles of waterway along the Oregon-California border to salmon that are critical to... > [@](#): > > Removed would be the four southernmost dams in a string of six constructed in southern Oregon and far Northern California beginning in 1918. > > They were built solely for power generation. They are not used for irrigation, not managed for flood control and have no “fish ladders,” or concrete chutes that fish can pass through. > > They have blocked hundreds of miles of potential fish habitat and spawning grounds, and fish populations have dropped precipitously in recent years. Warren Buffet even comes across as a reasonable and well-intentioned guy: > [@](#): > > Buffett called the reworked deal a solution to a “very complex challenge.” > > “I recognize the importance of Klamath dam removal and river restoration for tribal people in the Klamath Basin,” Buffett said in a statement. “We appreciate and respect our tribal partners for their collaboration in forging an agreement that delivers an exceptional outcome for the river, as well as future generations.” We did have [a previous thread on this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-dam-removal-ferc-approval/773448), but I felt it was old enough that a new one was warranted. Any Dopers gonna be impacted by this? Waddaya think about it? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/2 "2020-11-17T22:59:03Z")
As somebody who loves fresh salmon, I welcome the removal of the dam. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/3 "2020-11-17T23:41:53Z")
Another pro-salmon vote here. Especially if the local catch here in southern Oregon benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/4 "2020-11-18T00:20:42Z")
I’m all for it. It wouldn’t impact me directly, those dams are a 6 hour drive north of me in the SFBA. According to this [redding.com](http://redding.com) article from July, [https://is.gd/lLTv6e](https://is.gd/lLTv6e), the four dams are, from upriver to downriver (these names are how they can be found in Google maps): John C. Boyle Dam, Keno OR Copco Dam, Hornbrook CA Copco Number 2 Dam, Hornbrook CA Iron Gate Dam, Hornbrook CA The two Copco dams are very close together. The first one is called Copco 1, but that’s not how it’s identified in Google maps. This Google map, [https://is.gd/8Arfw6](https://is.gd/8Arfw6), links the four dams from upriver in the northeast to downriver in the southwest. Finally, for whenever these dams are destroyed, I tried capturing the lat/long coordinates of a spot near each dam that should (by my eye) still be there after the demolitions. These are maps of each dam and lat/longs from Google maps. I hope that’ll be accurate enough? [https://is.gd/ixZRgF](https://is.gd/ixZRgF) \< 42.121208, -122.048031, John C. Boyle Dam, Keno OR [https://is.gd/j47I4C](https://is.gd/j47I4C) \< 41.980584, -122.336175, Copco Dam, Hornbrook CA [https://is.gd/sVzTsL](https://is.gd/sVzTsL) \< 41.980010, -122.339705, Copco Number 2 Dam, Hornbrook CA [https://is.gd/1HeKDs](https://is.gd/1HeKDs) \< 41.935053, -122.432016, Iron Gate Dam, Hornbrook CA Not that I’m going to do it, but it would be cool to drive by them before, and after, to compare the vistas there. Finally, I created the shortened URLs and they are safe. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/5 "2020-11-18T01:56:44Z")
I’ll believe it when I see it. Not a second sooner. Got a notice from Discourse about this thread. Apparently because of the link to a thread I started years ago. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/6 "2020-11-18T15:39:49Z")
I don’t live too close to this area, so not a real impact on me, but I’m for it. I live closer to the four dams on the lower Snake River and would like to see their removal to help salmon populations rebound which will help orcas, as well as make some awesome stretches of free-flowing river: > **[Cooked salmon: Climate change, dams contribute to lethal habitat](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/aug/23/cooked-salmon-climate-change-dams-contribute-to-le/)** > > The Columbia and Snake rivers have been providing sustenance throughout the northwest since man first inhabited the region – first directly via the salmon that swim through their waters, then through irrigation and power generated by those waters. I subscribe to the Spokesman Review, and there have been other recent dam removal articles. These two seem like no-brainers…just need to find the means to get them removed: > **[Fishing, environmental groups sue over Umpqua River dam](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/nov/10/fishing-environmental-groups-sue-over-umpqua-river/)** > > A coalition of environmental and fishing groups are suing a water district in southern Oregon over an aging, privately owned dam that they say hinders the passage of struggling salmon populations in the pristine North Umpqua River. > **[A dam blocking 348 miles of salmon streams hasn’t generated electricity since...](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/nov/09/a-dam-blocking-348-miles-of-salmon-streams-hasnt-g/)** > > Taking down Enloe Dam is crucial for rebuilding steelhead, lamprey and chinook salmon in this river, said Cody Desautel, natural resources director for the tribes. The question isn’t whether this dam in their traditional territory should come down.... ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/7 "2020-11-18T20:40:13Z")
This is really big news for the Klamath Tribe. We watched a documentary recently about these tribal lands and the impact that the dams have had on the Native way of life. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/8 "2023-10-07T03:24:31Z")
> But after more than two decades of persistent efforts, including protests at company [shareholder meetings,](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-11-18/ferc-klamath-river-basin-dams-removal) [demonstrations on the river](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M9wLhaDJrk) and [complicated negotiations,](https://reconnectklamath.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/KRDROverview-072023-lr.pdf) the four dams along the California-Oregon border have finally started to be dismantled. > > One small dam has already been removed, and three more are slated to come down next year. > **[The largest dam removal in history stirs hopes of restoring California...](https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-10-05/klamath-dam-removal-tribes)** > > Native activists fought for years to build support for taking down dams on the Klamath River in Northern California. Now, they hope removing the dams will help save their salmon. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klamath-river-dam-o-litions/925834/9 "2024-12-24T09:25:04Z")
Great news: Over 6000 salmon have migrated past the site of the Iron Gate Dam since the Klamath dams were removed. Iron Gate was the dam furthest downstream. [https://caltrout.org/news/thousands-of-salmon-return-home-to-the-klamath](https://caltrout.org/news/thousands-of-salmon-return-home-to-the-klamath)