Klamath Reconnected: The Four Dams Are Gone

Come listen to Brian Johnson,

TU’s Senior Policy Advisor for Western Water Tell the story about:

·      The long campaign dam removal on the Klamath River

·      The two-year de-construction project

·      The next steps for the Klamath basin’s trout and salmon.

The Klamath Dam Removal was the largest dam removal and river reconnection effort ever attempted anywhere in the world.  The Klamath watershed spans Northern California and Southern Oregon and was once one of the largest salmon producing watersheds in North America. For the first time in over a century, the Klamath River’s Chinook and Coho salmon, steelhead and lamprey have access to over 400 miles of historic spawning and rearing habitat in the watershed’s upper basin. The four dams that blocked fish migration, heated the lower river to lethal temperatures, and encouraged devastating fish kills are finally gone.

The reconnected Klamath Basin is a testament to the value of coalition and partnerships; the need for comprehensive restoration that considers watersheds and their communities from the headwaters to the estuary; and powerful vision of native fish returning to waters where they have been absent for far too long. Today, on behalf of Klamath River salmon and steelhead and the communities that cannot live without them, we celebrate all the talented, relentless people who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

* For Trout Unlimited the Klamath Basin is  the epitome of a Priority Water .

Iron Gate Dam

Klamath River Post Dam Removal

Brian Johnson Bio:

Brian Johnson is Trout Unlimited’s Senior Policy Advisor for Western Water. He recently accepted this role to help the organization create a new national Center for Water and Climate. From 2011 to 2024, he was the California Director, and from 2005 to 2011, he led the California Water Program.

Brian has been a member of the board for the Klamath River Renewal Corporation since 2016, and he was Board President during the dam removal period. The Renewal Corporation is the organization created to own and manage the Klamath dam removal effort through the Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement, which Brian helped negotiate. Brian and his colleagues at TU have long worked to settle the fisheries, water and power issues in the Klamath River with its partners in tribal government and irrigated agriculture.

Before TU, Brian worked at the public interest law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger from 2000 to 2005. He was the Communications Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality from 1993 to 1997. He was the co-founder and manager of EPA’s first “Energy Star” program from 1991 to 1993. Brian grew up in Iowa and graduated from Duke University and Stanford Law School.