MKWC Summer 2023 Fisheries Dam Field Trip participants (from left to right) Violet Duarte-Burch, Kai Crockett, Leif Carlson, Rose Soto, Rayna Pearlingi, Eva Pearlingi, Bryan Souza and Owen Harling.

Introduction

On Thursday July 27, members of the Orleans and Happy Camp MKWC Fisheries crews headed up 96 for an informational tour of the Klamath dams and surrounding areas. We visited three of the dams, Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2, and received a guided tour from Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) Chief’s Executive Officer Mark Bransom and Resource Environmental Solutions’ (RES) Project Manager Dave Coffman. This trip was planned because of a desire for information about the current process of Klamath dam removal, impact, and restoration. During the trip we were able to pose personal questions as well as ones asked during the MKWC all staff meeting in June. Answers and additional information to these questions were given by Mark and Dave as well as our post-tour research. This blog is intended to provide information about dam removal from on the ground resources and provide readers with additional places where they can find out more. Our online compilation of resources for during and post dam removal information is at the end of the blog.

*Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) and Resource Environmental Solutions (RES***)

KRRC is the independent nonprofit created solely for the removal of the Klamath’s hydroelectric dams and restoring a healthy free-flowing river and surrounding ecosystem. RES is KRRC’s lead restoration contractor and will restore all the hydro-electric areas that the dams have occupied (22,000-25,000 acres) (see above map). Major aspects of restoration are planting native vegetation and work on high priority tributaries that have perennial flows and provide good salmon habitat (Beaver creek, Camp creek) like placement of woody structures. The Iron Gate restoration footprint alone is 1,000 acres which includes the river bed and banks, vegetative areas, tributaries and upslope habitat. The Klamath project is a higher level of complexity than other projects that RES has done and they will work with an adaptive design framework, fitting the process to the field and making decisions accordingly. One example of this are the tributary restorations since many of them are currently submerged by the reservoirs and their footprint is not known. Surveys done for knowledge on the bathymetry of these creeks will be done the year of drawdown by LIDAR, drone, and photos.

Vegetation restoration on the bottoms of the reservoirs will begin as soon as their drawdown is complete. These plants include native grasses, trees, and shrubs selected specifically for their location and proximity to streams and wetlands.RES partnered with the Yurok Tribe starting in 2019 to do seed collection One of the farms RES has been working with is Benson Farms in WA, with the goal of propagating over 17 billion native grass seeds that are specifically adapted for the Klamath restoration project. These seeds will be spread both by hand and machinery during restoration.

Wards Canyon, a section of the Klamath below the site of Copco 2 holds special significance to the Shasta Indian Nation. Since Copco 2’s removal, this section of river is flowing again for the first time in a century. Part of the restoration efforts include uprooting non native trees that have grown in the channel during its dewatered time. They will be removed by helicopter to lessen the machinery impact and uphold respect at this culturally significant site.

***Designated Spoils Sight Upriver of Copco 2. Original Image Credit Eva Pearlingi***

The Mechanics of Dam Removal

The removal of the four dams in the Klamath Hydroelectric Project are all subject to site-specific requirements and conditions, but follow a generally similar schedule, with the exception of Copco 2 dam, which did not have a standing reservoir. Above is the anticipated construction timeline for dam removal and restoration from the KRRC website.

***Remains of Copco 2. Image Credit Will Harling***

Copco 2 Removal:

The diversion and barrier structure of Copco 2 dam has already been removed from the Klamath river channel. What remains to be done is decommissioning and filling the water conveyance structures, demolishing the penstocks, powerhouse, and associated facilities (including former PacifiCorp housing at Copco Village).

Copco 1 and Reservoir. Image Credit Will Harling

J.C. Boyle, Copco 1, and Iron Gate Dam Removal:

Phase 1: Pre-Drawdown: Preparatory structures will be put in place such as access roads and temporary bridges. Where necessary, lower-level outlets will be constructed through excavation and blasting.

Phase 2: Drawdown: reservoir levels will be lowered and additional construction infrastructure such as platforms will be installed. Management of flows will be necessary initially, becoming less vital as flows lower.

Phase 3: Post-drawdown: Facilities removal will be in full swing. Concrete dams will be removed from the top down and the concrete rubble will be moved to designated spoils sites, many of which are the places the material was taken from to begin with. Some features, such as the front of the Copco 2 intake and upper section of Iron Gate spillway, will have been deemed more harmful to remove than leave in place, and therefore will be filled instead of deconstructed.

Copco 1 Lower Level Outlet. Original Image Credit Owen Harling

River Flow Monitoring During and Post Dam Removal

There has been baseline data of water monitoring for a year prior to dam removal. This will continue during removal and restoration of the area as well as years to come in order to get comparative data on different stages of the process. This data is available to the public on the USGS Klamath River Basin Mapper,the Karuk Tribe Water Quality site, and USGS Data Grapher.

Dam Removal Media Coverage

KRRC plans on building a viewing platform for the removal of Copco 1 which will take place around January 2024. While there is no public video documentation of the removal of Copco 2, they are considering creating a live feed of the second dam removal so it can be accessed by those not at the construction site. Swiftwater Films is currently working with RES on a documentary, Undamming Klamath, that will tell the story of events and movements leading up to the dam removal as well as filming of the removal process.

Land Ownership Post Dam Removal

There are two kinds of PacifiCorp land parcels outlined in the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA): Parcel A lands and Parcel B lands. The ownership for parcel A lands will remain with PacifiCorp and covers areas including the Fall Creek Hatchery, Keno Dam, and Shovel creek. Parcel B lands are being/have been transferred into KRRC ownership. Following the dam removal process, they will be transferred to State ownership. There is however, language in the KHSA which specifies that the State may designate the ownership of these lands to another third party, and discussion of returning land to Tribes along the Klamath river is already underway. However, this process has yet to be initiated or confirmed.

As far as future PacifiCorp involvement is concerned, section 7.6.4 of the KHSA also lists “easements or other property interests necessary for access to and continued operation of PacifiCorp transmission and distribution system assets that will remain on the property” as one of the possible terms of final land transfer to State designee.

**Landscape Surrounding Dams. Image Credit Owen Harling**

**Image 1. Dredging Barge in Copco Reservoir. Image Credit Will Harling**

Post-dam Removal Hydrology Impacts

Dry River/Flooding Water Level Concerns:

While dam removal will certainly affect the consistency of flows to some degree (predominantly on the peaking flow rafting stretch between J.C. Boyle and Copco Reservoir), it is important to remember that much of the downstream Klamath river flows are highly dependent on major tributaries such as the Shasta, Scott, and Trinity rivers. In fact, the flood control influence of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project dams is incredibly small. According to KRRC’s website, “state-of-the-art modeling indicates that flood elevations may be subject to an increase of 6 to 18 inches in a 100-year flood event, and only in the first 18 miles below the site of Iron Gate Dam” (FAQs – Klamath River Renewal). Conversely, people concerned that there will be no water during dry months can be reassured by recognizing that it is impediments to Klamath River water, and not its source, which are being removed. The dams in the Klamath Hydroelectric project have some control of release, but it is not significantly different from flows under unobstructed river conditions. Furthermore, historical accounts of the Klamath running dry for periods of time are now suspected by the California State Water Resources Control Board to be related to peak operations of the Hydroelectric dams prior to the construction of Iron Gate.

Sedimentation Concerns Downriver:

The amount of sediment that is expected to be dispelled from all four dams is only around 6 of the 15 million cubic yards that have accumulated there, a figure which is roughly the average amount of sediment moved by the Klamath under pre dam removal conditions. It is believed that most of the impounded sediment will be washed into the ocean within 24 months after drawdown and dam removal, with the coarsest sediments settling within 15 miles downstream of Iron Gate dam. There will be short term impacts from the movement and temporary settling of this sediment for property owners and engagement with recreational activities. KRRC has reached out to property owners downstream of the dams via letters to inform them of the possibilities of sediment appearing on riparian areas after dam removal. Residents are encouraged to reach out to KRRC and RES to talk more about sediment concerns, questions, and dialogue. While sediment buildup will undoubtedly change the Klamath basin in the short-term, there are a number of benefits that should not be ignored, such as side-channel connection due to floodplain aggradation and nutrient deposits that will enrich riparian health. After a short rebound period, the Klamath is expected to start cycling sediment at a more regular rate and river conditions will stabilize. There will be a break in drawdown during peak salmon migration in the spring to minimize effects to the sensitive run.

There is very little planned dredging around the project area, with the one exception being sediment backups behind Copco 1 dam. For this site, dredging will be executed with a barge (image 1), and sediment will be released into a curtain that will drop it into a designated area on the bed of Copco reservoir. Once the reservoir drawdown is complete, the spoils area will be exposed and planted as a part of the new riverbank.

You can contact Mark Bransom and Ren Brownell at KRRC about additional community outreach suggestions

mark@klamathrenewal.org

ren@klamathrenewal.org

KRRC Public Information Phone Line: 530-670-0016

Email: info@klamathrenewal.org

Changes in Water Quality:

According to the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Environmental Impact Report, dam removal is suspected to improve both short and long term water quality in specific sections of the river basin. Overall, this includes a more stable, summer and fall pH, a reduction of chlorophyll-a and algae toxins, temperature improvements, and elimination of summer and fall extremes of dissolved oxygen concentrations. Environmental Impact Report for the Lower Klamath Project License Surrender, Volume lll:

Predicted Effects on Algae in the River:

The slow moving warm water that the reservoirs and dams create are a prime environment for blue-green algae to bloom. Because of this, an increase of instream flows from dam removal is an important step that will reduce the amount of blue green algae and the abundance of toxic microcystin it produces.

C. Shasta:

Ceratomyxa shasta (C. Shasta) is a freshwater myxozoan parasite that effects salmonid fishes in devastating ways. According to the paper Density of the Waterborne Parasite Ceratomyxa shasta… by Hallett et al. 2012, when river temperatures rise, salmonid respiration rates are seen to increase which potentially increases the number of infectious stages that pass over the fish's gills and thus the probability of infection. Decreased flows have been associated with increased C. shasta infection and other parasites like Myxobolus cerebralis. In contrast, higher flows may dilute infectious stages and affect transmission efficiency. Because of this, it is believed that post dam removal the mortality rate of salmonids caused by C. Shasta could go down with cooler water temperatures, and there will be less stress on the fish themselves.

Invasive Species Upriver and Downriver:

There is no special plan in place for the mitigation of invasive species release during drawdown. In large part, this is due to the fact that there are already some Yellow perch and Brown Bullhead populations downstream of the dams in the mainstem Klamath. Furthermore, fish biologists have low levels of concern about predominantly lake-based species establishing in the Klamath mainstem.

***Original Image Credit Will Harling***

Diagram For Fish Passage Through Iron Gate Dam

There was a question about how fish raised above the dam currently make it past Iron Gate and

downriver. The three pathways that a fish could potentially take are 1) over the spillway, 2)

through the bottom release tunnel, and 3) through the hydroelectric pipe and turbines.

However, all of these pathways are subject to operational schedules, so at any given time, all,

some, or none may be moving water. The most likely way for a fish to make it past Iron Gate

dam would be over the spillway.

The Residences

There are a blend of private homes and PacifiCorp employee dorms that make up the residences around the Klamath Hydroelectric Project. Dam operator homes were originally built to encourage workers to move their families out, and schools and other social services were provided for the people who decided to make the move. However, few to none are used now, as dam controls have been made entirely remote accessible. The only workers needed on site are for manual adjustments, repairs, and security. There are also a number of people who have summer homes for recreational purposes or permanent residences, especially around Iron Gate and Copco Reservoirs.