Klamath River Restoration

In 2016, a settlement agreement with 23 co-signatories made the plan a reality.

Leading the implementation of that agreement is RES’ client, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC). KRRC’s mission is to remove the Lower Klamath Project Dams, restore volitional fish passage, improve water quality, and ensure restoration of the project footprint.

All of this benefits the fish, the larger river ecosystem, and the native tribes and local communities who depend on strong, abundant salmon runs and a thriving river.

A restored river sets the foundation for a vibrant recreational economy that includes new opportunities for whitewater rafting, kayaking, and sportfishing. Robust runs of salmon can also breathe new life into small coastal communities, ensuring that scores of small family fishing operations can thrive in a sustainably managed fishery. Improved water quality and larger runs of fish can also benefit the regional farm economy by reducing regulatory pressures on agricultural operations.

After the dam removal team completes their work, RES begins our vital role of implementing a whole-ecosystem restoration approach for the river, streams, and lands impacted by the former reservoirs.

RES will directly restore the areas in and around the four reservoir footprints. At the same time, we’ll be monitoring the river’s recovery over a much larger geographic area, reaching from the uppermost reservoir, created by the JC Boyle Dam in Oregon, all the way to the mouth of the Klamath River on the California coast.

RES will revegetate thousands of acres of the former reservoir footprints. We’ll also restore several miles of high-priority tributaries, fully reopening a critical part of historical salmon and steelhead spawning habitats.

RES is leading this restorative effort in close collaboration with state and federal agencies, conservation groups, and the Yurok, Klamath, Karuk, Hoopa, and other indigenous tribes who have stewarded this ecosystem for millennia.

The RES design team includes national and local experts in botany, ecology, geomorphology, fisheries, stream and river restoration, and project management.

RES is also bringing its hallmark principles of long-term stewardship and performance-based contracting to this epic project. RES has worked with the KRRC, the states of California and Oregon, and the owner of the dams to develop a unique contractual structure that transfers responsibility to RES for achieving the project’s long-term restoration goals.