State Water Board Issues Key Documents That Further Efforts to Remove Klamath River Dams

THIS JUST IN…

From the State Water Resources Control Board:

The State Water Board today issued key documents that move the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) significantly closer to removing four dams and re-opening 360 miles of the Klamath River and its tributaries to imperiled salmon.

The board issued a Final Water Quality Certification permit and Final Environmental Impact Report. The permit conditions will become part of the broader Lower Klamath Project License Surrender Order that must be issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) before the dams can be decommissioned and removed.

One of the largest dam-removal efforts in U.S. history, the project primarily consists of removing three dams in northern California (Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate) and one in southern Oregon (J.C. Boyle).

The State Water Board action comes after an extensive process that began with the KRRC’s application for a Water Quality Certification in 2016. The process involved numerous public meetings in the project area and resulted in adoption of an environmental impact report that considered and responded to more than 2,600 comments.

“Decades in the making, this historic and comprehensive project will help restore native fish populations, and improve water quality […]

Full article: State Water Board Issues Key Documents That Further Efforts to Remove Klamath River Dams