In 2006, M.Cubed prepared a report for the California Energy Commission that showed PacifiCorp, owner of the four dams on the Klamath River, would be financially indifferent between decommissioning or relicensing the projects with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That conclusion has since been reinforced by a 75% decline in replacement renewable power costs since then. That study opened the door for all parties to negotiate an agreement in 2010 to move forward with decommissioning.
In 2015, I wrote here about how that agreement was in peril. I tracked the progress of the situation in the comments in that post.
Fortunately, those hurdles were overcome and the decommissioning began this year in 2023. Copco 2 has now been completely removed and the project is moving on to the next dam.
After all four dams are taken we can see how successful this approach might be in restoring rivers on the West Coast.
This is the initial report on the economics of decommissioning versus relicense conducted for the California Energy Commission.
Economics Outside the Cube 
Salmon have already made it to the Upper Klamath Lake, just over a year after the lower reach dams were removed.
Pioneering Salmon Are Exploring Upper Klamath Basin https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pioneering-salmon-are-exploring-upper-klamath-basin
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Great News: Nearly 10,000 salmon have migrated up the Klamath River above the former dam sites! https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/11/24/2355456/-Nearly-10-000-Chinook-salmon-have-migrated-up-the-Klamath-River-above-the-former-dam-sites
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More on the habitat rebound one year later: https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/14/klamath-river-ecosystem-one-year-after-dam-removal/
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One Year After Klamath Dam Removal, ‘There’s Just Fish Jumping All Over the Place’: Scientists Describe Improvements to Water Quality and Wildlife https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2025/oct/9/one-year-after-klamath-dam-removal-theres-just-fis/
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Chinook have made it as far as the Link River: https://krcrtv.com/news/local/fall-chinook-salmon-return-to-link-river-after-more-than-a-century
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https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2025-09-11/boiling-point-klamath-dam-removal-anniversary
One year after dams were torn down, an Indigenous writer sees a healing Klamath River
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How the Karuk Tribe’s leader intervened in this process to move towards decommissioning: https://mavensnotebook.com/2025/08/26/notebook-feature-how-karuk-ceremonial-leader-ron-reed-used-western-science-to-take-down-the-klamath-dams/
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California’s massive dam removal hit a key milestone. Now, there’s a problem https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/klamath-river-dam-salmon-20350575.php The returning salmon only got so far. Eight miles upriver from the former dam sites lies a still-existing dam, the 41-foot-tall Keno Dam in southern Oregon. The dam has a fish ladder that’s supposed to help with fish passage, but it didn’t prove to work.
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Now you can visit the Klamath.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/klamath-river-dams-recreation-20328005.php
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Two articles with recent photos of the Klamath after the dams were removed.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91333804/these-stunning-photos-show-how-nature-came-back-after-the-worlds-largest-dam-removal-project
https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/changes-happening-along-klamath-river/article_ffc2b689-485d-4c86-8037-c0e782deb2bb.html
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California river where dams were removed to supply most water in years https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/one-part-california-emerging-years-drought-20294410.php Officials at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced this past week that stormy weather over the past several months was enough, alongside the removal of four dams on the Klamath River and other water projects, to likely ensure sufficient water for farms, fish and wildlife refuges in the region.
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More on the history of the decommissioning: https://legal-planet.org/2025/03/31/success-removing-the-klamath-dams/
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A long history on how the Klamath Project was decommissioned: https://grist.org/project/indigenous/klamath-river-dam-removal-tribe-pacificorp-salmon/
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https://www.americanrivers.org/2025/03/big-year-for-dam-removals-in-2024/
Big Year for Dam Removals in 2024
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Salmon Are Returning to the Undammed Upper Klamath River Even Sooner than Expected
https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/coho-salmon-return-upper-klamath/
How the Return of Salmon to the Klamath River Shows Us What’s Possible in Wildlife Conservation
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-return-of-salmon-to-the-klamath-river-shows-us-whats-possible-in-wildlife-conservation/
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Dan Walters began as a critic of the deal that led to the decommissioning of the dams. His latest column is much more supportive and hopeful:
https://mavensnotebook.com/2024/11/01/dan-walters-a-century-later-salmon-again-spawning-in-klamath-river-after-dams-removed/
(Walters began is journalism career in Klamath Falls.)
Here’s columns he wrote criticizing the project:
https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/05/taxpayers-save-unhealthy-western-rivers/
https://www.redding.com/story/opinion/2020/11/27/commentary-why-taxpayers-footing-klamath-river-dam-removal-cost/6439370002/
https://www.redding.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/02/20/dan-walters-how-californians-got-on-the-hook-for-250-million-to-a-billionaire/93684090/
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/10/137_99705.html
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https://calwatercenter.org/early-lessons-from-the-klamath-dam-removal-effort/
Early Lessons Drawn from the Klamath Dam Removal Effort
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The salmon have arrived!
https://apnews.com/article/klamath-dam-removal-california-oregon-salmon-river-f3c44eaa8caebfd79fed54e68da862f4
Salmon swim freely in the Klamath River for 1st time in a century after dams removed
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More on the ecosystem progress on the Klamath: https://www.times-standard.com/2024/10/31/early-measurements-of-klamath-fish-health-post-dam-removal-promising/
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And it’s officially over
https://mavensnotebook.com/2024/10/03/press-release-klamath-dam-removal-comes-to-a-close-with-before-and-after-photos/
And now its moving on to restoration
https://mavensnotebook.com/2024/10/03/noaa-fisheries-final-step-in-klamath-river-dam-removal-opens-path-for-returning-salmon/
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More news stories on the final Klamath River hydropower dam coming down.
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-08-28/klamath-river-dam-removal-completed
https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/gaza-edu-salmon-facial-distortion/klamath-dams
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/08/28/fish-are-swimming-the-klamath-river-freely-for-the-first-time-in-more-than-a-century/
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The last of the cofferdams came down on August 28, 2024. https://caltrout.org/news/the-klamath-river-flows-free-for-first-time-in-100-years
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More on the progress of decommissioning. The whole effort is expected to be completed in September. https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/klamath-dam-removal-19585388.php
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What are the expected and realized environmental effects of decommissioning of the Klamath dams? https://www.americanrivers.org/2024/05/four-things-to-know-about-the-impacts-of-dam-removal-on-the-klamath-river/
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The last of the Klamath dams, Copco 1, was demolished: https://www.capitalpress.com/ag_sectors/water/copco-1-last-of-three-remaining-klamath-river-dams-breached-by-blast/article_e42f9739-9d79-54ab-8b8b-566a01419652.html
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First of a five part story on the Klamath dam removal impacts: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2023/11/27/restoring-klamath-river-after-dam-removal-california-oregon/70925827007/
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