dams Content

The Salmon Diaries: Life Before and After Klamath Dam Removal

Katherine E Kerlin — July 15, 2024 - 9:00am

From the Klamath River to the lab, to the ear bones of fish, �ٺ��Ƶ scientists are helping to answer a big dam question: How will salmon use the river following the world's largest dam removal project?

U.S. Reservoirs Hold Billions of Pounds of Fish

Katherine E Kerlin — April 29, 2024 - 8:57am

U.S. reservoirs hold more than 7 billion pounds of fish, a �ٺ��Ƶ study estimates. Properly managed, these existing reservoir ecosystems could help food security and conservation.

Removing Dams from the Klamath River is a Step Toward Justice for Native Americans

Katherine E Kerlin — July 13, 2023 - 1:20pm

The Klamath River runs over 250 miles (400 kilometers) from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California. It flows through the steep, rugged Klamath Mountains, past slopes of redwood, fir, tanoak and madrone, and along pebbled beaches where willows shade the river’s edge. Closer to its mouth at Requa, the trees rising above the river are often blanketed in fog.

The Science of Saving Salmon as Klamath Dams Come Down

Katherine E Kerlin — February 24, 2023 - 3:34pm

The world’s largest dam removal in history is slated for 2023. Led by Indigenous tribes in partnership with organizations, lawyers, scientists and activists, the project will remove four dams, clearing the way for the lower Klamath River to flow freely for the first time in more than a century.

Dams Ineffective for Cold-Water Conservation

Katherine E Kerlin — August 25, 2021 - 9:00am

Dams poorly mimic the temperature patterns California streams require to support the state’s native salmon and trout — more than three-quarters of which risk extinction. Bold actions are needed to reverse extinction trends and protect cold-water streams that are resilient to climate warming, according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE by the University of California, Davis.

What to do About Deadbeat Dams?

Andy Fell — June 25, 2020 - 8:05am

A recent post on the California WaterBlog run by the �ٺ��Ƶ Center for Watershed Sciences takes a look at the state’s almost 1600 dams. These dams were all built for specific purposes, whether to manage water supplies, control flooding, generate power or for other needs.

Human Actions Impact Wild Salmon’s Ability to Evolve

Katherine E Kerlin — December 04, 2018 - 11:32am

Once spring-run chinook salmon disappear, they are not likely to re-emerge, indicates genetic analysis of the revered wild fish in a study led by the University of California, Davis. Prompt conservation action could preserve spring-run chinook, as well as their evolutionary potential.

Disconnected Salmon: Catching a Ride Over Dams

Katherine E Kerlin — September 21, 2017 - 1:32pm

Wild salmon, historically, are born in rivers, swim to sea to live out their adulthoods, and find their way back to their freshwater spawning grounds to reproduce before dying.

But dams and other barriers to spawning grounds have disconnected that natural cycle, requiring fisheries managers to get creative to support salmon populations. It is now fairly common to transport salmon to and from spawning grounds by truck, boat, and even helicopter.