Monday Top of the Scroll: Historic California dam removal, meant to help salmon, sees massive die-off
Hundreds of thousands of young salmon are believed to have died this week at the site of a historic dam removal project on the Klamath River, after an effort to restore salmon runs on the newly unconstrained river went awry, the Chronicle has learned. The dead chinook salmon were among the first hatchery fish released on the Klamath since four hydroelectric dams were breached near the California-Oregon border, to allow the river to flow freely again and ultimately help fish flourish. … The salmon die-off, discovered downstream of the 173-foot Iron Gate Dam, is thought to be the result of trauma the small fish experienced when they went through a tunnel at the dam’s base, which had been opened to allow the river to pass and dam demolition to proceed. … “No one, especially those in my program who work night and day to keep fish alive, wants to see something like this happen,” said Jason Roberts, an environmental program manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We’re going to learn from it. We need to do better.”
Related articles:
- SF Gate: Hundreds of thousands of fish die in Northern California river
- CA Department of Fish and Wildlife: Fall-run chinook salmon fry succumb to gas bubble disease in Klamath River
- Jefferson Public Radio: Hundreds of thousands of juvenile Chinook salmon die in Klamath River while moving through dam
- KRCR – Redding: Klamath River nominated for 2024 ‘River of the Year’ due to Indigenous leadership
- CBS – Bay Area: Almost a million young salmon released in Klamath River die from gas bubble disease