‘There Are Salmon Everywhere”: Klamath River Sees Remarkable Recovery Just a Year After Dam Removal

Just over a year after four hydroelectric dams were removed from the Klamath River, biologists are seeing something many thought they might never witness again: salmon returning to nearly every corner of their historic habitat.

CDFW scientists report fall-run Chinook salmon spreading throughout newly accessible tributaries, reoccupying areas that had been blocked for more than a century. “There are salmon everywhere on the landscape right now,” said Michael Harris, Environmental Program Manager for CDFW’s Klamath Watershed Program. “The speed of their return is remarkable.”

Although final population numbers won’t be available until January, early reports indicate a stronger fall-run Chinook return than last year. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Klamath Tribes are documenting widespread spawning far upstream, including tributaries above Klamath Lake where salmon have been absent for generations.

In California, fish-counting stations have already recorded 208 adult Chinook in Jenny Creek and 260 in Shovel Creek—streams that were previously blocked by reservoirs. Snorkel surveys also found juvenile Chinook and steelhead in nearly all newly opened tributaries. One of the most promising signs came from Fall Creek, where roughly 65,000 wild juvenile Chinook were counted this summer.

The new Fall Creek Fish Hatchery is also seeing success, spawning 1.27 million eggs so far, four times last year’s output.

Dam removal has also restored natural water temperatures, cooled the river earlier in the fall, reduced harmful algal blooms, and dramatically lowered levels of the deadly parasite C. shasta.

To support continued recovery, CDFW has invested more than $30 million in restoration projects across the basin, including fish passage improvements, erosion control, habitat protection, and new public access in the former reservoir footprints.

The Klamath River is experiencing a rebirth, and for the first time in generations, wild salmon are leading the way home.