October 30, 2024

Merkley, Wyden Announce $46 Million to Boost the Klamath Basin

Federal funding will help restore the Klamath River’s habitat following historic dam removal and further protect endangered C’waam, Koptu, and salmon

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is investing a total of $46,191,133 in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to boost ecosystem restoration and enhance water quality and reliability through 24 projects throughout the Klamath Basin—12 of which are taking place in Oregon.

This latest federal funding wave from the landmark law will largely fuel the Klamath River’s recovery and habitat restoration efforts following the removal of the four lower Klamath Dams in 2024—the largest dam removal effort in U.S. history.

“A key to restoring the Klamath Basin is major federal investments that will support collaborative ecosystem restoration and water improvement efforts. This funding will continue ongoing efforts I helped energize alongside the Klamath Tribes and other stakeholders to save the C’waam and Koptu, and restore the aquatic habitat and ecosystems of the Klamath River following the historic removal of the four lower Klamath Dams,” said Merkley, who visited Northern California earlier in October to tour a former dam site and celebrate removal alongside Tribes and other key partners. “Since the dams came out, we’ve seen the salmon returning home for the first time in generations. This federal investment champions projects that help ensure the C’waam, Koptu, and salmon all have an ecosystem to thrive in, while also prioritizing efforts that help this unique region’s water go farther for the Tribes, farmers, fish, and vital ecosystems that rely on it.”

“Restoration of the Klamath Basin requires significant resources just like these to catalyze the work that’s needed locally to build a stronger ecosystem and improve water quality,” Wyden said. “This fresh federal investment in the region and the big gains it will generate for jobs, recreation, and habitat will work to ensure the area’s farmers, Tribes and communities can grow and thrive for generations to come.”

As Chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Merkley secured a historic $162 million over five years through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law specifically dedicated to restoring ecosystems and enhancing drought resiliency work in the Klamath Basin. Today’s $46 million funding announcement from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s USFWS marks the third year of investments from this landmark law, as it follows $26 million provided in 2022 and $15 million in 2023. Merkley also convened the “Sucker Summit ” in 2018, which brought people from across the Basin together and helped lay the groundwork for these significant investments to protect the C’waam and the Koptu.

In February of this year, Merkley and Wyden announced $72 million in new federal funding for critical ecosystem restoration projects and agricultural infrastructure modernization in the Basin, as well as a historic agreement with the Klamath Tribes, Yurok Tribe, Karuk Tribe, and Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA). This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) cemented their commitment to working together to drive long-term solutions to the Basin’s water challenges. That includes collective efforts to restore the region’s ecosystem and improve water supply and reliability for the Klamath Project. 

The 12 restoration projects in Oregon—some of which are being developed by Klamath MOU group partners, as well as other Tribes and other conservation partners—are as follows:

  • $13,000,000 for the Wetland Restoration on Upper Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Agency Lake Units project. This will complete restoration of the Agency-Barnes wetland units of Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and provide fish habitat access in Fourmile and Sevenmile creeks. Covering 14,356 acres, the restored wetland will create vital habitat for waterfowl, federally endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers (C’waam and Koptu sucker fish), and other species, making it one of the largest wetland restoration initiatives in America. MOU group partners - Ducks Unlimited and Klamath Tribes
  • $3,500,000 for the Upper Williamson River Restoration Phase 2 project. This will provide fish passage to over 26 miles of the upper Williamson River and reconnect several thousand acres of adjacent wetlands and riparian habitats within the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge project area. MOU group partners - Ducks Unlimited and Klamath Tribes
  • $3,179,400 for the Climate Change Resiliency Stream Restoration and Post Bootleg Fire Stream Stabilization and Restoration project. This effort includes placing approximately 400 Beaver Dam Analog, Post Assisted Log Structures, and other types of instream structures to help restore several streams in the Sprague River and Williamson River watersheds. MOU partner - Klamath Tribes
  • $3,000,000 for the Lake Ewauna Restoration for the Benefit of People, Fish and Wildlife project. This funding will be used to develop and restore wetlands and shoreline around Lake Ewauna in downtown Klamath Falls for the benefit of native fish and wildlife species and to tell the story of the local Tribes, farmers, and communities in the Klamath Basin. Restorative improvements to habitat in Link River and instream habitat improvements within Lake Ewauna will benefit C’waam and Koptu suckers, native trout, migratory waterfowl, and other species. With the recently removed Klamath dams, salmon and steelhead will also be migrating through Lake Ewauna for the first time in over a century. Partners – The Klamath Watershed Partnership, City of Klamath Falls, and Klamath County Economic Development Agency
  • $2,540,000 million for the Tule Lake Flow Through Infrastructure Improvement project. This encompasses a suite of infrastructure improvements and operational changes to provide natural ecosystem services with respect to water quality in the Klamath Basin. Water used for farmland irrigation would then flow through wetlands before returning to the Klamath River. In addition to water quality benefits for the Klamath River, this project will provide habitat for threatened and endangered fish, support migratory wildlife, recharge groundwater, and provide other ecosystem benefits. MOU group partners – KWUA and Tulelake Irrigation District
  • $2,027,799 for the SONAR and Radio Telemetry and Spawning Surveys for Klamath Salmon project. This will be used to obtain abundance estimates of salmon and steelhead entering the reach previously blocked by the four lower Klamath dams and track salmon migrations to their spawning grounds. These metrics will provide a foundation for assessment of stock status and trends while guiding future restoration efforts in the newly accessible habitats, developing a toolset to support prioritization of future restoration and monitoring in the Klamath River. It will also provide much needed capacity for three of the six tribes on the Klamath River, allowing them to track the return of these culturally significant species. MOU group partners – Karuk Tribe, California Trout, Klamath Tribes, Yurok Tribe, Cal Poly Humboldt, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
  • $1,253,000 for the Klamath Basin Fisheries Collaborative: Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) Tag Monitoring and Database project. This will be used to continue to build the infrastructure required to provide Klamath Basin fisheries managers with consistent and reliable data on movements of fish using PIT tags. Work funded by this proposal includes continuing to improve on existing fish monitoring efforts by coordinating activities and collaborating on tasks, as well as advancing data exchange by refining the user interface and providing technical support to data providers. Partner – Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
  • $500,000 for the Implementation of Integrated Fisheries Restoration and Monitoring Plan (IFRMP) project. This will fund a USFWS initiative to support Klamath Basin stakeholders in tracking, coordinating, and integrating monitoring and data collection efforts across the Basin.
  • $500,000 for the Klamath Basin Stakeholder Engagement and Facilitation project. This will fund a USFWS initiative to provide greater continuity and work toward local governance for the MOU parties, which are interested in utilizing a neutral facilitator to help identify additional ways to promote collaboration and reduce conflict over natural resources. This effort could include expanding the MOU group to include other interested parties and to develop proposals related to a governance structure for making important decisions on restoration and monitoring in the Klamath Basin. These funds would support the hiring of a facilitator selected by the parties and support up to three to five years of facilitation support.
  • $300,000 for the Post Dam Removal Data Collection on Salmon Migration and Movement project. This funding will be used by project partners to use otolith microchemistry tools to 1) understand how Klamath Dam removal affects the early life history diversity of Chinook salmon, 2) determine the natal origin and migration histories of returning fish, pre- and post-dam removal, 3) determine which tributaries are and are not producing Chinook salmon, and 4) quantify how Chinook production varies between different tributaries before and after dam removal. The information is critical to adaptively managing the Klamath Basin, post dam removal, and has important implications for restoration of key tributaries. Partner – UC Davis
  • $295,000 for the Surface Water Management and Efficiency Enhancement project. This encompasses necessary infrastructure improvements to allow safe, reliable, and integrated management of water within the Klamath Project. MOU group partners – KWUA, Klamath Irrigation District, and Klamath Drainage District
  • $200,000 for the FWS Post Dam Removal Science Symposia project. This will fund an USFWS initiative to sponsor a Klamath science symposium in 2025. Planning for this symposium will start in November 2024. The goal is to bring together stakeholders/experts to discuss the state of the Basin post dam removal, progress on restoration and monitoring, and next-step strategies to continue the momentum on restoration progress in the years ahead.

For a complete list and full descriptions of all the 24 projects awarded funding in the Klamath Basin, click HERE.

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