Klamath River Reconnection Plan Faces $2.1 Million Funding Gap for Next Phase
Partners have spent $900,000 on initial designs but need another $3 million to finalize a plan for reconnecting the river to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.
By Emmanuel Obasi ·
The Lower Klamath Lake Reconnection Project has completed its first design phase, but the partnership still faces a substantial funding shortfall to move forward.
The project aims to restore the natural ebb and flow of water between the Klamath River and the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. Partners presented the concept at a public meeting at Oregon Tech on Tuesday night. The goal is to emulate how the ecosystem functioned before agricultural alterations changed the water flow.
Engineers are currently evaluating five different designs and will select one to carry forward. The next phase of the project is expected to take about two years. The estimated cost for this stage is $3 million, but partners have only secured approximately $900,000 so far. This leaves a gap of $2.1 million to be funded.
Scott White, general manager at the Klamath Drainage District, has pushed for this reconnection since the refuge dried up completely in 2021. White noted that the silence of the dry lake was striking. "You couldn’t hear wingbeats; you couldn’t hear quacking; you couldn’t hear any birds," White said. "It was like ‘Silent Spring’." The partnership began when the district initiated conversations with the Yurok Tribe.
The working group includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Modoc and Klamath Tribes, and several other agencies. Proponents argue that reconnecting the river and refuge would provide reliable habitat for thousands of migratory birds. They also say the project could create fish habitat for salmon and suckers, improve water quality, and make the ecosystem more resilient to drought.
The plans include installing fish screens to keep salmon and other fish out of irrigation canals. Since four dams on the Klamath River were removed, salmon have been finding their way into irrigation infrastructure. The project would use existing and new infrastructure, potentially including a fishway that would let fish safely swim between the river and the refuge. DJ Bandrowski, a civil engineer and program manager at the Yurok Tribe, said there has been enough engineering and modeling to prove the concept is possible.
Mike Belchik, a senior water policy analyst for the Yurok Tribe, called the project a "six-way win." He stated that it would restore the hydrology and ecological function of Lower Klamath Lake. The Yurok Tribe has provided technical expertise, including detailed mapping of the project area using lidar. Hydraulic modeling is helping the partners understand how water would move under different circumstances. The reconnection project is one of several collaborative restoration projects taking shape across the Klamath watershed in the wake of dam removal.
