Dam Removed with a Bang
Rachel Brittin
NOAA Fisheries Service
December 22, 2008 — In October, NOAA Fisheries Restoration Center staff watched as powerful explosives opened up the Whites Gulch River for the first time in 120 years. The Whites Gulch Dam, which had blocked salmon from reaching their upstream habitat for more than a century, was gone in an instant.
To view a video of the Whites Gulch Dam removal, click here. Photo Credit: NOAA
The Whites Gulch River is a tributary of both the Salmon and the Klamath Rivers in Siskiyou County, Calif., not far from the Oregon border. Whites Gulch sits in the middle of thick vegetation and tree-lined streams, ideal for spawning salmon. It was once home to so many salmon that citizens claimed they could walk across the river on salmon backs. But in the late 1800s, a dam was built on the river that blocked salmon from reaching their upstream spawning habitat, and populations dwindled.
Location of Whites Gulch Dam removal. Photo Credit: NOAA
In 2005, President Bush created the Open Rivers Initiative, which provides communities with funding and technical guidance to carry out projects to restore local rivers and streams. The initiative is focused on community-driven dam and river barrier removals, with the goal of enhancing watershed health and fostering sustainable populations of migratory fish such as salmon, sturgeon, shad, river herring, and American eel. Open Rivers Initiative projects also aim to improve public safety, enhance community vitality, and spur economic growth.
NOAA partnered with the FishAmerica Foundation, the Salmon River Restoration Council, the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Forest Service, the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project, the five Counties Salmonid Conservation Program, and the Local Salmon River Landowners and Contractors to remove the two barriers on the river.
The recent removal of two dams, including the Whites Gulch Dam, combined with a downstream barrier later this year, will open one and a half miles of spawning and rearing habitat for spring Chinook salmon and threatened coho salmon and steelhead trout. The project will provide benefits to native fish and wildlife and improve safety for nearby communities.