Planning & projects |
Reference
https://klamathrenewal.org
was chosen as adult salmon are out to sea, and juvenile salmon generally overwinter in the tributaries and not the main stem of the river. “Our native fish have evolved to survive many challenges, including periods when water quality is not ideal,” said Daniel Chase, Director of Fisheries, Aquatics and Design for Resource Environmental Solutions. “High levels of suspended sediment in the river are not unusual. Burn scars, mudslides and other events can contribute a great deal of sediment to the river and cause fish mortality, but the vast majority of fish respond by moving into tributaries or finding areas with better water quality. In this they can find ways to survive conditions and persist even when conditions look bad to us.” As predicted in state and federal environmental
reviews, there was still significant fish mortality in the reservoirs due to the extreme turbidity that accompanied drawdown.
Deconstruction Work on the deconstruction of Iron Gate and
JC Boyle, which are clay core earthen dams, is expected to begin during May 2024, depending on precipitation.
Deconstruction of the Copco No.1 Dam, which will be performed through a repetitive cycle of drilling, blasting, and chipping, was able to begin before the spring runoff period concluded because it is a concrete arch dam. So, should the Klamath River experience a significant flow spring event, water could safely pass over the partially removed concrete dam and it would remain securely in place. The Copco No. 1 Dam removal plan was specifically designed to allow for this safe flow passing, should it occur. Removal of Copco No. 1, Iron Gate, and JC Boyle Dams is expected to be completed in time for the Fall run of Chinook salmon later this year.
Introducing the Happy Fish
Reservoir drawdown was initiated at Iron Gate Dam on 12 January 2024 and its strategy was different to the others, as there was no blast at the dam. Instead KRCC had the opportunity to use existing infrastructure, which allowed them to precisely control the volume of water going down river, thus limiting downstream impacts. The initial drawdown period was carefully selected by KRRC’s
Aquatic Resources Working Group which is comprised of Tribes and state and federal agencies. January and February are the ideal months for this process, as there are the fewest threatened and endangered species in the mainstem, while winter flows will assist with sediment evacuation. Coinciding with drawdown at Iron Gate Dam, the Klamath River dam
removal project also had a special visit from the Happy Fish earlier in the year. Scores of current and former state and federal agency staff who devoted years of their life to the task of restoring the Klamath River joined with tribal members, contractors, local officials and others in a series of dam tours and celebrations on the banks of the river. Born in the Netherlands within the innovative project “Fish
Migration River Afsluitdijk”, Happy Fish was originally dedicated to restoring fish migration between the Wadden Sea and the neighbouring freshwater lake IJsselmeer. The statue was designed by Dutch artist Bruno Doedens, who investigates the mutual relationship between art and landscape, and with its distinctive big smile, Happy Fish embodies the positive outcomes that can result when communities work together to create open waterways that connect fish, rivers, and people. The Happy Fish statue is also a symbol of World Fish Migration
Day (WFMD), a global awareness campaign hosted by the World Fish Migration Foundation every two years. This year, WFMD celebrates its sixth event on 25 May 2024, under the theme Free Flow, celebrating existing and renewed free-flowing rivers. The importance of this is highlighted by the 2020 Living Planet Index for Migratory Freshwater Fish which shows that some migratory fish populations have declined by an average of 76% since 1970. As Herman Wanningen, Director of the World Fish Migration
Foundation, said: “With WFMD2024, our goal is to strengthen the connections between fish, rivers, and people in people’s minds. We want to inspire people to imagine life with migratory fishes and freer flowing rivers and suggest ways that they can act to create positive change.”
https://worldfishmigrationfoundation.com
34 | April 2024 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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