09/10/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/10/2024 10:17
News stories have recently featured the largest dam removal project so far in the United States on the Klamath River. As a result, a 420-mile stretch of the Klamath will flow freely for the first time in more than a century, finally providing salmon "their best shot at long-term survival in the river." While these articles highlight the promise of dam removal on the Klamath River, there are many striking parallels to the lower Snake River.
Like the Klamath, four dams on the lower Snake River have choked its flows, ruined water quality, and fostered toxic algae blooms that often made the river unsafe for people, their pets, and for summer recreation. Most importantly, like in the Klamath River, salmon populations in the lower Snake River have declined dramatically, some by over 95 percent, since the dams on the lower Snake were built. Snake River coho salmon were completely wiped out from the river before being reintroduced by the Nez Perce Tribe.
The historic and well-planned removal of the Klamath River dams is nearly complete. And it offers excellent insight into how we can recover the salmon runs that are the vital link to a healthy ecosystem and how a river-and communities-heal.
Key takeaways from the dam removal project on the Klamath River are a reminder of the promise that dam removal offers on the lower Snake River.
The Columbia Basin Salmon agreement puts in place the process and planning to assure we will responsibly remove these dams and replace their services. With ongoing support from our elected leaders, we have a plan where abundant clean energy, a strong economy and salmon can co-exist.