Nature’s dams on the Klamath River blocked fish for millennia
Why is the natural lava dam that has been in place since creation overlooked?
In 1911, when the famous engineer and dam-builder J.C. Boyle arrived at Wards Canyon to build Copco 1 dam, he noted the existence of the 31-foot-tall natural lava dam that held back Clammittee Lake.
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You realize there are pictures of early settlers and Native People catching salmon upstream of Wards Canyon. These lava flows were ancient structures long eroded by the time the dams were built. Either we will know soon. Copco Lake will be drained in a manner of months.
see story map that includes historical photos of salmon and steelhead being harvested upstream of Wards Cayon at https://bringthesalmonhome.org/understanding-dam-removal/#historic-salmon-runs
Bill Simpson is actually not a fisheries biologist, a geologist or a credible scientific researcher. I am sure he knows a lot about horses and flying though. Here is his bio:
Capt. William E. Simpson II: Naturalist – Author, ‘Capt. Bill’ is a retired U.S. Merchant Marine Officer; commercial airplane and helicopter pilot; Master SCUBA Diver; gemologist and university instructor (Univ. of Hawaii – Maui Campus).
Bill spent his formative years on the family working-ranch raising livestock. He also worked in forestry-logging industry in Southern Oregon. After graduating high school, he attended Oregon State University as a pre-med science major, but ultimately earned his degree in Flight Technology.
Bill currently lives at his wilderness ranch among a herd of free-roaming wild horses in the Soda Mountain wilderness area on the Oregon-California border where he studies the behavioral ecology of wild horses on wilderness landscapes and wildfire.
Bill has been a guest on several radio and TV News shows over the past 7-years. Bill is a published author with two books in print and has also authored over 150 articles on subjects related to natural resources management, with a focus on wildfire and wild horses.”
My understanding is that early on when the Klamath dam removal effort was proposed as a more cost effective way to obtain fish passage than trying fish ladders etc., Pacific Power rejected the premise that salmon and other fishes migrating upriver ever migrated all the way to the Klamath Falls area. Presumably this was based on the natural lava flow dam theory. However, dam removal proponents including the native tribes provided so much evidence in the form of photos etc. that the court rejected the premise salmon never got that far upstream and the law suit was dismissed.
A logical explanation would be that despite the lava flow natural dams were inundated at certain stream flows (probably during storm events) that allowed the determined salmon to navigate thru the dammed areas and eventually reach spawning grounds in the Klamath Falls area. So, what May have looked like real barriers to fish migration were in reality delays i.e. barriers at low flows but passable at some point during enhanced storm flow conditions.
I have seen similar situations on the upper Middle Fork Eel River above Covelo. Proof fish were able to pass was there were lots of juvenile fish in the river above them.
Hope this helps with those who doubt or distrust that salmon ever got thru.