Progress Report: two years in to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Giddy smiles and stomping feet. We stood next to the Klamath River and watched muddy water rush out from the tunnel under the Iron Gate Dam. The twenty-degree weather couldn’t freeze out the excitement of our group; even as we tried to kick feeling back into our toes,...Dam Removal on the Klamath: Reflections on How We Got here
By Ann Willis When I first set foot in the Klamath watershed as a scientist back in 2008, dam removal seemed little more than a dream. An official decision had not yet been made by the Department of the Interior about whether dam removal was in the best interest of...The Bay Delta and Yuba: Native American Tribes, Water Rights, and Cultural Uses
“First in time, first in right….” –Doctrine of prior appropriation The “first in time, first in right” principle didn’t apply to California’s first people, and it still doesn’t apply today. The principle of “prior appropriation” meant that water was to be used and...A Celebration on the Elwha River
advocates for dam breaching, free-flowing waters and river restoration are celebrating the news that the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has been able to fish for coho salmon for the first time since two large dams blocking the Elwha River were removed a decade ago.