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Klamath River Reservoirs Drained for World’s Largest Dam Removal Project

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Friday, May 3, 2024

Satellite image of Klamath River reservoirs captured on December 23, 2023, by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9.Satellite image of Klamath River reservoirs captured on February 25, 2024, by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9.The Klamath River dam removal, spanning from 2023 to 2024, marks the largest project of its kind aimed at restoring riparian habitats by dismantling four major dams.The Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California is now running freer. In late 2023 and early 2024, four of the six dams along the river were breached and reservoirs drained. These actions were part of an effort to restore hundreds of miles of riparian habitat. It is thought to be the largest dam removal project in history.Historical Background and Project RationaleThe four dams—Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and J.C. Boyle—were built between 1918 and 1962 to generate electricity. Facing steep costs to modernize them in the early 2000s, the utility that owned the dams opted for deconstruction instead. In addition to removing aging infrastructure, the project is expected to eliminate the ecosystem and human health risks posed by toxic algae, which has regularly reached harmful levels in the reservoirs since 2005. Restoration efforts will focus on revegetating hundreds of acres and reinvigorating fish populations in what was once the third most productive river for salmon on the West Coast. Early Stages of Dam RemovalThe first dam to be removed, Copco No. 2, was also the smallest; that project wrapped up in September 2023. Copco No. 2 did not impound a reservoir but rather diverted the river’s flow through a tunnel system to a powerhouse downstream.More-visible changes would come later, after the upper image was acquired with the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 on December 23, 2023. At that time, the Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, and J.C. Boyle (upstream and not in view) dams were still holding back water. Drawdown of the Iron Gate Reservoir began on January 11, 2024, followed by the controlled release of water from Copco Lake and J.C. Boyle Reservoir.Visible Changes and Environmental ImpactBy February 15, the initial phase of drawdown was complete, according to a news release from the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), the organization managing the project. The result is evident in the second image (lower), acquired with the OLI-2 on Landsat 9 on February 25. A river channel meanders through the beds of the drained reservoirs.The KRRC estimated that 5 million cubic yards of sediment previously held behind dams would travel downstream during this drawdown phase. Scientists expect the release of sediment early in the project to degrade water quality in the near term, increasing turbidity and lowering dissolved oxygen content. “The river is undoing a century of being impacted by these dams, and that may look messy right now,” said NOAA fisheries biologist Shari Witmore in a statement.Long-Term Ecological BenefitsA steady supply of river sediment will help build up habitat for organisms downstream, transport nutrients, and replenish coastlines over the long term. The Klamath is one of many river systems, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, to have gone without many of these benefits for decades. A recent analysis of Landsat and hydrological data found that 20th-century dam building in North America, Europe, and Asia has halved the global delivery of suspended sediment from rivers to the oceans relative to pre-dam conditions.Researchers have documented rapid and long-lasting ecological gains following other dam removal and river restoration projects, such as the one on the Elwha River in Washington state in the 2010s. To jumpstart restoration on the Klamath, NOAA Fisheries, the Bureau of Reclamation, tribes, and other partners are conducting controlled water releases from dams farther upstream to maximize the movement of sediment and minimize impacts to fish.Ongoing Restoration and Future PlansIn the coming months, the three remaining dam structures will be completely disassembled. The removal of Copco No. 1, a concrete arch dam, began in March; Iron Gate and J.C. Boyle, both earthen dams, will be deconstructed after the spring runoff period. The removal of all three is slated to be complete before the fall Chinook salmon run. Restoration of the approximately 1,300 acres that were previously underwater has already begun with the dispersal of climate-adapted seeds collected throughout the watershed.NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Klamath River dam removal, spanning from 2023 to 2024, marks the largest project of its kind aimed at restoring riparian habitats by dismantling four...

Klamath River Reservoirs 2023 Annotated

Satellite image of Klamath River reservoirs captured on December 23, 2023, by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9.

Klamath River Reservoirs 2024 Annotated

Satellite image of Klamath River reservoirs captured on February 25, 2024, by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9.

The Klamath River dam removal, spanning from 2023 to 2024, marks the largest project of its kind aimed at restoring riparian habitats by dismantling four major dams.

The Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California is now running freer. In late 2023 and early 2024, four of the six dams along the river were breached and reservoirs drained. These actions were part of an effort to restore hundreds of miles of riparian habitat. It is thought to be the largest dam removal project in history.

Historical Background and Project Rationale

The four dams—Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and J.C. Boyle—were built between 1918 and 1962 to generate electricity. Facing steep costs to modernize them in the early 2000s, the utility that owned the dams opted for deconstruction instead. In addition to removing aging infrastructure, the project is expected to eliminate the ecosystem and human health risks posed by toxic algae, which has regularly reached harmful levels in the reservoirs since 2005. Restoration efforts will focus on revegetating hundreds of acres and reinvigorating fish populations in what was once the third most productive river for salmon on the West Coast.

Early Stages of Dam Removal

The first dam to be removed, Copco No. 2, was also the smallest; that project wrapped up in September 2023. Copco No. 2 did not impound a reservoir but rather diverted the river’s flow through a tunnel system to a powerhouse downstream.

More-visible changes would come later, after the upper image was acquired with the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 on December 23, 2023. At that time, the Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, and J.C. Boyle (upstream and not in view) dams were still holding back water. Drawdown of the Iron Gate Reservoir began on January 11, 2024, followed by the controlled release of water from Copco Lake and J.C. Boyle Reservoir.

Visible Changes and Environmental Impact

By February 15, the initial phase of drawdown was complete, according to a news release from the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), the organization managing the project. The result is evident in the second image (lower), acquired with the OLI-2 on Landsat 9 on February 25. A river channel meanders through the beds of the drained reservoirs.

The KRRC estimated that 5 million cubic yards of sediment previously held behind dams would travel downstream during this drawdown phase. Scientists expect the release of sediment early in the project to degrade water quality in the near term, increasing turbidity and lowering dissolved oxygen content. “The river is undoing a century of being impacted by these dams, and that may look messy right now,” said NOAA fisheries biologist Shari Witmore in a statement.

Long-Term Ecological Benefits

A steady supply of river sediment will help build up habitat for organisms downstream, transport nutrients, and replenish coastlines over the long term. The Klamath is one of many river systems, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, to have gone without many of these benefits for decades. A recent analysis of Landsat and hydrological data found that 20th-century dam building in North America, Europe, and Asia has halved the global delivery of suspended sediment from rivers to the oceans relative to pre-dam conditions.

Researchers have documented rapid and long-lasting ecological gains following other dam removal and river restoration projects, such as the one on the Elwha River in Washington state in the 2010s. To jumpstart restoration on the Klamath, NOAA Fisheries, the Bureau of Reclamation, tribes, and other partners are conducting controlled water releases from dams farther upstream to maximize the movement of sediment and minimize impacts to fish.

Ongoing Restoration and Future Plans

In the coming months, the three remaining dam structures will be completely disassembled. The removal of Copco No. 1, a concrete arch dam, began in March; Iron Gate and J.C. Boyle, both earthen dams, will be deconstructed after the spring runoff period. The removal of all three is slated to be complete before the fall Chinook salmon run. Restoration of the approximately 1,300 acres that were previously underwater has already begun with the dispersal of climate-adapted seeds collected throughout the watershed.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Underwater Time Bomb: Meltwater Ponds Threaten Antarctic Stability

An expedition has found that increased temperatures from climate change are causing ponds that weaken ice. A team of scientists who installed instruments on an...

Recent field observations in Antarctica reveal that meltwater ponds are causing significant flexing and fracturing of ice shelves, suggesting that increased melting from climate change may accelerate the collapse of these critical structures, potentially raising global sea levels.An expedition has found that increased temperatures from climate change are causing ponds that weaken ice.A team of scientists who installed instruments on an Antarctic ice shelf discovered that meltwater ponds were causing the ice to flex and fracture.Though scientists had predicted the phenomenon, this was the first time it was observed in the field.The finding raises concerns that, as climate change progresses and more melting occurs, vulnerable ice shelves in Antarctica will collapse—contributing to global sea rise. “Ice shelves are extremely important for the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s overall health as they act to buttress, or hold back, the glacier ice on land,” said Alison Banwell, a scientist in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead author of the study published May 4 in the Journal of Glaciology. “Scientists have predicted and modeled that surface meltwater loading could cause ice shelves to fracture, but no one had observed the process in the field, until now.”“It’s looking very likely that this process explains the collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf,” added Doug MacAyeal, University of Chicago Prof. Emeritus of Geophysical Sciences and co-author on the paper—referring to a notorious 2002 event in which more than 1,000 square miles of Antarctic ice collapsed into the ocean in a matter of weeks.Around the continent of Antarctica, thick sheets of floating glacier ice extend out over the ocean. Known as ice shelves, they are thought to help keep inland glaciers stable—but more and more seem to be collapsing.Field Research and Observational ChallengesIn 2019, a group of researchers led by Banwell traveled to the George IV Ice Shelf, thought to be one of the at-risk ice shelves in Antarctica. They placed time-lapse cameras and GPS sensors to monitor the ice over the course of a year, throughout the seasonal cycle of freezing and thawing.The outbreak of COVID-19, however, meant it was more than a year before they could return. When they returned in late 2021, several of the stations had been lost. Fortunately, some instruments survived—and they had documented a lot of evidence.According to the research, here’s how the process works. Warmer air temperatures cause the top layers of ice on the ice shelf to melt. The newly liquid water forms a pool, which concentrates the weight in one area. Then, as anyone who’s tried to cup water in their hands knows, the water will find its way down through even the tiniest crack.The water trickling down widens the cracks in the ice, like cracks spreading from a pothole in the road over time. Over the course of the summer, the pools fill and then drain, over and over; the GPS sensors placed atop the ice shelf recorded that the ice shelf was dropping and rising by about a foot each time. This further weakens the ice.Ice is structurally fragile, MacAyeal said; “It’s like a weak form of glass.”Eventually, the dam breaks. The GPS stations recorded a very sudden altitude change—meaning the ice had fractured.The researchers said it was likely this thawing and freezing cycle was a key factor in the collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in 2002, the largest ice shelf breakup on record. Before the event, satellites had recorded many pools of meltwater atop the ice shelf.Global sea levels have risen by eight to nine inches since 1880, and the trend is accelerating over time. The melting of Antarctic ice is a major factor, and scientists worry that the loss of the ice shelves will further destabilize the situation.“These observations are important because they can be used to improve models to better predict which Antarctic ice shelves are more vulnerable and most susceptible to collapse in the future,” Banwell said.Reference: “Observed meltwater-induced flexure and fracture at a doline on George VI Ice Shelf, Antarctica” by Alison F. Banwell, Ian C. Willis, Laura A. Stevens, Rebecca L. Dell and Douglas R. MacAyeal, 3 May 2024, Journal of Glaciology.DOI: 10.1017/jog.2024.31

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Honduran city’s air pollution is almost 50 times higher than WHO guidelines

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