In order to get salmon back to spawn, U.S. regulators decided to spend $500 million to dismantle four dams on the Klamath River, which would be the world's largest dam removal and river restoration project to date.
Located near the border between California and Oregon, the Klamath River is the second largest river in California with a drainage basin area of 37,500 square kilometers.
The upper reaches of the Klamath River are spawning grounds for king salmon and endangered coho, which each year swim from the Pacific Ocean to spawn, hatch and return to the Pacific Ocean, once the third largest salmon spawning river on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.
The four dams, located on the lower reaches of the Klamath River, were built between 1918 and 1962, essentially cutting off the river entirely, preventing salmon from reaching spawning grounds upstream.
The Klamath River's indigenous tribes have relied on salmon for generations and have been fighting for decades, demanding that the dam be removed to allow the salmon to return home.
After years of tug-of-war, the interests of all parties have finally begun to converge. These dams are old and increasingly expensive to operate and maintain, generating only 2% of the dam operator's electricity generation, powering 70,000 homes.
Combined with the long-term low-capacity operation of power plants due to lower water levels in recent years, and new regulations requiring the construction of expensive fishing nets and fishways, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the dam, operators have reached an agreement with indigenous tribes and the U.S. government to decommission and dismantle the dam instead of renewing permits.
About $500 million will be needed to dismantle the dam, and $200 million will be paid by the operator, which will be obtained through a surcharge to households that use electricity, with the wool going out of the sheep and the rest being raised by the California government's issuance of water bonds.
After the deal was reached, U.S. regulators approved the plan, which means that after more than a century of hiatus, the Klamath River will fully return to flow, and Pacific salmon will hopefully return to their long-lost homeland to have children, along with fishing nets, kitchen knives and gluttonous mouthfuls from local indigenous people.
According to statistics, by February 2021, the United States had removed 1,957 dams, while in 2021 it plans to remove 57 and restore 3,430 kilometers of river channels.
Why is the United States dismantling dams with great fanfare? In addition to making way for migratory fish, restoring wildlife habitats, and saving species from extinction, removing dams is good for river health, public safety and climate resilience, reconnecting communities to rivers, preserving cultural values, and allowing the web of life to thrive.
Of course, on the other hand, dams in the United States were built earlier, many of them are aging, maintenance and operation are more expensive, and upgrades must build expensive facilities for fish migration, which makes most dams with expired permits choose to close.