Recreation in the Klamath Basin: Project Update
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How can GreenWorks create positive user experiences that are sustainable in a hotter, drier, and more variable climate?
Beginning in 1908, four dams were built along the Lower Klamath River for power generation. The project was successful in providing a reliable energy source, but the riverscape was dramatically altered from over 100 years of power generation. The byproduct was the loss of 400 miles of aquatic habitat in the main stem and tributary channels for anadromous species, the degradation of water quality in three large reservoirs, and the cultural impact to indigenous people (Hoopa, Karuk, Klamath, Modoc, Shasta, Yurok) who lost access to salmon and other food sources, as well as culturally important sites. In 2002, the death of 70,000 salmon due to excessively warm water exiting Iron Gate Reservoir catalyzed agencies to join the tribes in advocating for dam removal, an effort that gained momentum over the last two decades.
The dams no longer meet current dam safety or environmental mitigation standards. Facing a huge reinvestment cost, PacifiCorp, working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, formed the Klamath River Renewal Corporation to steward the removal of four dams and the restoration of 40 miles of the Lower Klamath River. Among many benefits, the dams removal will allow anadromous species to return to 400 river miles of habitat lost by dam construction, better water quality by way of the river flows reducing water temperatures compared to reservoir conditions, increased and improved watershed resilience. The dam removal will also increase recreation opportunities with river continuity and recovery of the whitewater sections drowned by the dams.
GreenWorks’ role is to design five recreation sites for post-dam scenarios in the midst of accelerating climate change. The essential challenge of this project is to determine, for which site conditions are we designing? How can GreenWorks create positive user experiences that are sustainable in a hotter, drier, and more variable climate? The team (including Inter-Fluve, GRI, and KPFF) has been working over the last 16 months to anticipate what the site conditions will be and how to provide designs and materials that create a great experience for visitors. The work has been informed through direct communication with recreation interests and resource agencies on facilities needs and wants.
Simultaneously, we are working with the Shasta Indian Nation and our partner Sea Reach on the Shasta Heritage Trail to provide an interpretive experience from the Shasta perspective. Tribal history plays a large role in the context of this project. Native Americans were subjected to considerable violence, including forced removal from sacred lands near the dam sites.
Unique to this project for GreenWorks was some of the fieldwork that our team got to engage in. Rather than a site visit and spend time primarily behind our computers to draft and design, Paul, Anya, Dylan and Madeline spent a day with the Shasta learning about their history. We then trekked several days through the rugged Lower Klamath River landscape of lava flows, poison oak, and rattlesnakes to delineate landmarks, obstacles, and other points of interest to determine a preliminary trail layout for a six-mile route.
The first of the dams, referred to as Copco 1, was removed in July. The next big draw down will happen in January of 2024. The scale of the work is as grand as the Lower Klamath River. A million cubic yards of rock and earth will be excavated to remove the Iron Gate Dam, a process that will take four months to accomplish. It is estimated that 5 to 7 million cubic yards of sediment will be flushed out during the reservoir drawdowns.
Highlighted by this project, though not unique to GreenWorks projects, are themes of access, health and transformation. We are improving the access of people to nature not just recreationally, but also for the Tribes to their once-lost sacred lands, increasing the health of the ecosystem and habitat biodiversity, and re-engaging with the cultural history of the land. At its scale and impact across the entire Klamath river, it’s hard to say how this is not transformational for the region. Just the type of project we like to sink our teeth into!