Klamath River Returned to Historic Path, Locals Say Dam Removal Impacting Fish

For the first time in over a century, after decades of controversy surrounding the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, salmon are swimming freely through the Klamath River in California. Environmental nonprofit groups and Native American tribes have long blamed the four obsolete hydroelectric dams for damaging the river’s ecology and blocking upstream spawning habitat, causing a decline in salmon populations. On Aug. 28, the river flow was restored as two cofferdams were broken, hailed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom for opening up a new 400 mile stretch of river for native fish habitats. But some residents near the dam removal sites in Siskiyou County say that the dam removal itself is harming the river and the fish, as massive volumes of sediment are stirred up and sent downstream....