What you need to know: The largest river restoration project in American history has reached a major milestone - fish are swimming freely in the Klamath River.

KLAMATH RIVER - Fish are now swimming freely in the Klamath River for the first time in more than 100 years, thanks to collaboration between the state, federal and tribal partners.

The Klamath River restoration project - the largest such effort in American history – is working to remove four obsolete hydroelectric dams in California and Oregon that had over decades worsened water quality in the Klamath River, harming salmon populations and communities in the basin that rely on them.

The breaching of the two cofferdams today at Iron Gate and Copco No. 1 return the Klamath River to a free-flowing state in California for the first time in 100 years. This means native fish species such as steelhead, coho and Chinook salmon now have access to more than 400 miles of newly opened spawning and rearing habitat. This habitat includes not only the main stem of the Klamath River but several important tributaries that historically supported salmon and steelhead populations and will provide consistent sources of cool water in warm months and in a warming climate.

The dam removal effort is anticipated to help revitalize the culture and economy for several tribes that call the Klamath Basin home.

This moment is decades in the making - and reflects California’s commitment to righting the wrongs of the past. Today, fish are swimming freely in the Klamath for the first time in more than a century, thanks to the incredible work of our tribal, local and federal partners. - Governor Gavin Newsom

Last September, the first of the four dams was brought down, and the rest are being removed throughout this year as a result of ongoing collaboration between California and Oregon, the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, PacifiCorp, and fishing and environmental groups.

In June, Governor Gavin Newsom visited the dam removal project that will revitalize nearly 400 miles of historical habitat for salmon and steelhead, when completed. 

The Klamath was once the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast before the construction of concrete dams, beginning in 1918, blocked migratory salmon and steelhead from accessing nearly 400 miles of critical river habitat. 

In December 2022, Governor Newsom joined U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, leaders of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, and Oregon Governor Kate Brown to celebrate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final approval of the project. 

Governor Newsom earlier this year released California’s first strategy to restore salmon populations amid hotter and drier weather exacerbated by climate change, and the Administration and Legislature have invested more than $800 million over the last three years to protect the iconic fish species for generations to come. The Administration has requested a Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration to support impacted communities in response to the full closure of the ocean salmon season for the second consecutive year.