The plan was released the same week as the final two dams on the river were breached.
By Alan Riquelmy, Courthouse News Service
California officials on Thursday released a plan they say will aid officials in the reintroduction of fish, including the imperiled Chinook salmon, to the Klamath River.
The report’s release came the same week that river, which crosses from southern Oregon to Northern California, became free-flowing for the first time in a century, after the final two cofferdams in California on it were breached.
The main goal of the Klamath River Anadromous Fishery Reintroduction and Restoration Monitoring Plan is to create healthy, self-sustaining fish populations, including Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey. This would bring economic benefits, as well as enhance tribal, recreational and commercial fisheries, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
“The approach outlined in the plan minimizes interruption of natural biological processes to allow natural demographics, ecology and evolution to unfold thus promoting wild fitness, life history diversity and resiliency of these species,” said Charles H. Bonham, director of the fish and wildlife department, in a statement.
Fall Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River in Siskiyou County, has a large role in the river’s restoration. The newly built Fall Creek Fish Hatchery will spur the growth of salmon populations.
Costing $35 million, the new hatchery was built by PacifiCorp, which used to own and operate the prior hydroelectric facilities on the river. PacifiCorp is set to fund the new hatchery for eight years. Officials have set goals of 3.25 million fall-run Chinook salmon and 75,000 coho salmon each year.
Officials tout an adaptive management approach, meaning future decisions and strategies could shift depending on monitoring activities that the plan details.
With all the river dams removed, officials want the ocean-going fish to naturally repopulate the 420 miles of now accessible habitat. The Fall Creek hatchery will aid that natural reintroduction by allowing volitional migration.
According to the department, there are 83 known fish species in the Klamath River Basin. Of those, 45 are native. Twenty-three of those native species are under either the federal Endangered Species Act or the state’s version of that act.
“The largest dam removal project in American history is part of something even bigger as we work with countless partners to achieve the largest river restoration project in American history, which is a super exciting space to be in,” Bonham said in a statement. “Nature teaches us time and time again just how resilient she is.”
The initial use of volitional migration is the state’s first choice for raising fish population levels. However, the plan has guidance for the potential active reintroduction of the fish. That decision won’t occur for a handful of years, giving time to determine if volitional migration is sufficient.
Active reintroduction could energize the process of getting more fish in the river, but is considered costly and could lead to unintended consequences if not properly planned.
Additionally, a monitoring plan will help the fish and wildlife department determine if active reintroduction is needed in the future. If it is needed, the department will work with state and federal agencies, as well as tribes and basin fisheries partners to create an active reintroduction plan.
The Klamath River once held third place for the number of salmon produced on the contiguous West Coast. The drop in salmon and steelhead in the river basin stemmed from, at least partially, the four hydroelectric dams once on the river.
Those dams blocked historical habitats, negatively affected water quality and created good conditions for fish pathogens. They also made the fish’s journey to the ocean more treacherous.
Native American groups for years advocated for removing the dams and in 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a recommendation to remove them.
