Dam Removal Destruction - Locals speak 

Where did you get your environmental degree? Let mother nature do her job and quit whining!

What man has destroyed, mother nature will restore. It takes time, but you know mother knows best. Come back in 10 years and marvel at the beauty of the natural world.

It is easy for me to understand the feeling of loss and anguish many are experiencing now, but I am exceptionally happy that the dams are being removed. I can see amazing potential in the restoration of the entire river system from the headwaters into the ocean. Oregon and California have not just the opportunity, but the obligation to harvest water efficiently and to restore habitat for fish and wildlife. Wetlands must be created, and groundwater must be replenished. Removing the dams is just one big step in a complicated process. Every step in the process will make things better, but there are many steps before the restoration is complete. This project is to me one of the greatest thing humans have done in my long lifetime. I wish the tribes, and everyone involved in the restoration process tremendous success in this glorious endeavor.

Oh no, a handful of deer died. That's gonna make quite a dent in the deer's 2 trillion population. A few fish died due to temporary conditions with no mention of the 70,000 salmon that died due to the permanent toxicity created because of those dam's. Mankind made that mess over 100 years. How about cutting mother nature some slack, & give her the time she needs to set it right.

it wasn't copco lake. it was a river, a long and beautiful river. it will be a river again

I understand why you are upset. YOU bought land without researching a major issue that's been going on for DECADES. YES there will be a great deal of short-term issues, while things change back. In 10- 20 years, the ENTIRE river will be healthier. On top of that, the cost of keeping the dams maintained was way more than removal. Where are the fish? In the river. Eagles will thrive on the increased salmon population. You have a narrow, short term, uneducated outlook. You're like the person who buys a cheap house on the flightpath for a local airport runway, and then sues because the noise is hurting the housing value.

Every local should plant back the native riparian zone trees along the river so the food chain for the native fish is restored. Without native riparian zone trees which account for up to 80% of the nutrients in a healthy diet for the aquatic inhabitants in the river environment the revival will not happen in the river environment.

Removing dams helps the environment and the ecosystem recover back to what it was.

Show me what the river looked like before the dams. Please, there must be historical photos. What of the effects on wildlife did the dams create?

There was never a lake there until man screwed up the total environment 😮

Folks that have lived with the lake for so long are certainly suffering a big loss. I am so sorry for your struggles. I can only hope you can come to love a beautiful, wild, healthy and natural river.

Judging a project like this after a few days is not fair to the scope of the project.

What this woman refuses to acknowledge is that the damns should never have been built. Imagine the destruction of animals, habitat and ecology those damns created. It's to bad your playground was ruined in an effort to undo the gross meddling with nature caused by man isn't it.

How about showing the river 'before' the dam was built? just wondering what things looked like and what the wildlife was like! And when you look at every one of the dam removal processes it is not good in one way or another!

By locals speak you mean play sad music and gaslight the dam removal project?

Vegetation, over the years to come, will alter this scene considerably.

I share your concerns, but you have to understand that the Klamath dams were a disaster and they made things very sad for people who live down river. There were huge fish kills from toxins produced by the lakes. To this day there are no significant fish runs on the river; nothing that compares with historic runs. Look at the Mount Saint Helens eruption and you can see that nature can be harsh, but it heals eventually

Good grief... clutch your pearls a little tighter...🙄

People have been lied to for so long that they don’t understand the science involved and they are so selfish that they can’t see beyond their own needs. It was already a toxic waste of a river and scientists are fixing the mistakes of the past. This will be gorgeous in a decade. Buy now if you get a chance. These people are sitting on a future paradise.

Put a cork in it girl. Come back in five and ten years and see what ol' mother nature has in store for the land and river.

Pass the kleanex!

Wow that looks horrible. Hopefully higher flows can wash it out. One thing I don't hear anyone talking about is the fact that with Klamath Lake remaining I don't see how the water quality will improve much. Klamath lake is over 40 miles long of algae and routinely closed to swimming.

I am sorry for all the negative effects on the Klamath River as a result of the dam removals. Each year the river will heal. The longer we waited the worse the silt build up would have been. If they would have removed the dams 20 years ago when they started discussing it think of what it would be like today. I knew a millwright that lived in Klamath from the 1910's until his death. I heard the stories about what the river was before the dams. It was like a fairy tale of what was before the dams. I am sorry what is happening right now. It is a result of foolish greed from a century ago affecting us now. When I see your pictures of Copco Lake as a mud pit, I think about what it will be soon. I hope you also get to experience the positives of dam removal as time moves on.

"Truth is that the river and surroundings is dead" This is the farthest thing from the truth we just saw live eagles flying around and ground squarel holes all over. Y all are delusional

Removing any dam will cause disruption to flora, fauna and neighbouring people. Removing four will amplify the disruption. In the grand scheme though the shock will be short lived. Nature will work to restore the situation from day one. The Elwa river in Washington seems to be the exemplar from where I sit 5000 miles away. More than 10 years on things appear to be recovering nicely. It will be the same here.

2 days after the deer were put down that were stuck in the mud one was hit by a car on the highway less than a mile from the lake, dont hear of anybody beating themselves up over that!

Is there quick sa nd there? So how do you go in the l ake?

In the future, the Klamath River will be fantastic again. The fish, rafters, kayakers, and fisher folks gain 400 miles of river. Many are mad but it is too bad. They are removing dams now, all over the World. This sad girl has no real knowledge of the ecosystem.

Wow! So BEAUTIFUL!! Nature starting its work to restore the river to more like it used to be and should be.

Thank You so much for keeping us updated. It is not easy to watch, but necessary to know.

They did this in January when we have plenty of rain and snow flying. What will the river look like in the summer? Especially late in the summer when we haven't had any precipitation for months. It'll be interesting to see if perspectives change after the summer.

Yeah I'm so sad over some rich people who don't have late front property now that really bothers me that they can show off they don't have their algae filled lake that poisons the fish I'd much rather have the salmon

I choose to respect the wishes of the "locals" that have been there since my ancestors were still looking for a spice trading shortcut!!

I fish this river right below where they blew it an there is still trout rising some fish are alive . native fish all that matters

Oh no! Now you have a forest cabin instead of a lake cabin. So sad 🤮

Nature is remarkable when left to manage itself. The silt will eventually flush and create estuaries elsewhere; further improving the environment. The dams were destructive on so many levels to the ecosystem. The "lake" was unnatural to begin with. Change is difficult, but 10-20 years from now life in and around the river and the perspectives of the disenchanted will remarkably improve.

They drained a lake, and LESS than 2 months later, you expect mother nature/mankind planting to have magically created a full river ecosystem? That's silly to expect that. Let us know what the Copco dam / river area looks like in 2 years.

after the tears are gone,a bright day will return

That's where fossils come from. Wondering who euthanized dinosaurs

Was this lake water used by firefighters during wildfires?

I'm curious how many people giving this couple a hard time about leaving mother nature to her business are also in support of solar farms? This was not done correctly and has caused emmense disaster. The gaslighting is coming from KRRC amd PacifiCorp NOT the locals whitnessing the aftermath.

Those dams weren't built over night and neither should they have been demolished in such a short time. I'm all for restoration of natural resources but I definitely think there could have been a slower more methodical way of going about it. Balance is key to most things. Yes nature will heal itself but this was like ripping off a Band-Aid before the wound was healed.

Thank you for posting. Hopefully you can continue to document as the months pass. ONLY time will tell. Hoping it's the case of pulling the arrow backwards to shoot forward. I'm not educated on this situation so I will refrain from making ignorant comments. Just grateful you can document and educate to help with making decisions in the future...God bless..

that lake didn't exist until the dam was built! poor property owners, who cares about restoration of the habit we destroyed? oh ya, everybody but you!

Years of abuse will take years to recover...

They compare Elwa removal, but Elwa is in rainforest whereas Klamath isn't- two different climate zones. Hope for the best! Dams really need to come down, not all but many are abandoned and just inhibiting rivers from being productive.

This killed millions of fish.

The Benbow Dam was removed in the Eel Year's ago. These Dams are not for flood control they were short sighted in Damming rivers back in the day.

This lady speaking sounds so hideous.

Next year it will be green. And they will probably plant trees as well and it would look great again. Even if the lake is gone nature will take back and it will look nice.

Everyone needs to understand that this river and entire ecosystem can now recover and will come back in multiples better after dams are gone. What you are seeing now is renewal not destruction. Sure there is always suffering after change. BUT nature has and will always adapt and recover as it has for millions of years. If we would just stop messing it up we could all enjoy our rivers, streams and all the wonderful things that come with it. Honestly we humans don't live long enough to always witness the evolution of nature so we hyper judge events that honestly occur naturally all over the world that destroy massive ecosystems (see Mt Saint Helens eruption) yet they come back over time. Fortunately my parents taught me delayed gratification and sometimes it takes time for something wonderful to happen. I can guarantee if we leave the Klamath alone and allow it to run free to the Ocean as it did for millions of years the entire river ecosystem will flourish. The river is flushing all the human created garbage (silt and stagnate vegetation) down the river that it would normally do over long periods of time in just a few months. So yes you are seeing suffering now but just relax and enjoy the transformation. It will be wonderful to watch if we just stay out of its way and show a little patience. God bless and I hope you can find peace with it and enjoy the renewal. In 20 years no one will even remember or want to ever go back to a lake or dams once the river restores itself. Just wait and see.

The disaster is that you selfishly miss your view. This land will repair just like the land down below, so the eco system can be repaired. The most complaints are self-absorbed.

You're gonna be okay Boomer

Yes but not removed.

Great video footage. So good to see the destruction the dams created. Look foward to seeing the recovery over the next decade.

Its going to take years for the river to cleanse itself

The phrase to listen for while watching this is "property owners" or "my property". These are all wealthy people that are upset about their vacation/retirement homes losing value. Notice that no one with a deep understanding of these habitats is concerned about this, it's all just people complaining about seeing dead fish and deer or losing their lakefront real estate set to melancholy piano tracks.

Future fossils to dig up

The deer didnt get euhanized they got SHOT!

You must destroy so you can restore

No record of wildlife deaths when the dam was built. But i'm sure it was substantial.

Check out where the Klamath River comes from. Klamath Lake is known to get very warm in summer, along with severe algae blooms. It lasts until early fall when the salmon are near the end of their journey with the final act of spawning. Klamath Lake water is a barrier to migratory salmon, just like the rainbow trout that must seek shelter during the summer by finding springs and spring fed tributaries. Also consider all the other factors affecting Chinook up and down the coast. All the way to Alaska.

Corners were cut purely for economic reasons. A lot of the sediment could have been removed prior to removal. If Mark Bransom and the Klamath River Renewal Corporation have reservations about growing their family vegetable garden with the sediment that accumulated from the bottom of the dam then they should clean it up.

I grew up and lived in Copco 2 and loved the river lakes and fish. I know that the river ran free more than 100 years ago. I don't think that the salmon are ever going to return to what some people think. What is over looked, is what all of the other fish and wild life that thrived with in these lakes. The Bass, Perch, Blue gill, Crappie, Catfish are all going to die out. We will have to see what comes of this.

It's not possible for your pets now to go the river to drink or play? I'll leave now...

Mother nature will prevail, rebound will take time, just as the dams leathal destruction took time, Klamath will be heald, not by man but but Nature.

Good question that all of us that live on and near the river would like have an answer to that question. Supposedly there is a mitigation fund but it will not be enough to cover any of the peripheral and collateral dame done by this project. Even the crab fishermen are seeing above normal, dead crab in their nets, as far as 10 miles out. What is this water doing to seals, otters, mollusks, other fish?

When the lake bed dries out just think of all the uses it will present.

Hey! Thank you so much for documenting this situation. At the 2:41 mark you are standing right above where the mother and baby were shot and killed the day before on January 27, 2024. On January 29, 2024 is the day that the 8 deer, mothers and babies died stuck in mud. The pictures you show in your video are mine. So just want to clarify, they died on their own, completely helpless to extricate themselves. They were not euthanized! And THANK YOU again for getting our voices out. We have a you tube channel but need help in getting things uploaded and such. We would appreciate your help with our channel. My tech guy is a 16 year old boy from out of the area. We are the news now and you are doing a great job covering what's really going on here. The KRRC always talks about being a "good neighbor" but the reality is they have done nothing but lie, threaten, continue to treat locals with disdain and disrespect and carry on as if this is all normal......... THIS IS NOT NORMAL! And God forgive us if we let this become normal, here and anyplace else. We must protect our water resources from enemies foreign and domestic. What happened here at Copco Lake and to the entire Klamath River is not ok.

huge mistake im not sure the river will ever recover from this my family and i along with many of our friends have enjoying iron gate lake for 30+ years and we are all heart broken over the draining of that place

As is so sad will bring resolve to the same distain we created when we dammed our rivers in hopes of prosperity

I look forward to seeing how salmon and steelhead populations respond to this new environment over the next 20 years. Salmon and steelhead populations have steadily declined on the Rogue River since the dams were removed or seems that way. I’ll bet the numbers back up my guess.

The river flow will remain the same because it comes from Klamath lake and the inflow to the lake determines the outflow. This season there may be a bit more water available because of snowpack. Last year because the tribes had a call on the water, so in that case no water was allocated to the wildlife reserve on Lower Lake area. Now with the dams gone the fantasy is " millions" of salmon will soon be showing up. Unanswered question.....who foots the bill for the reclamation of the mud flats river bottom??

I feel for you sorry to see the damn go, Ed

Someone should be heavily fined or prosecuted, Can the dams upstream be used to refill the lake and restore the sediment cycle? They can't after all be allowed to do the same thing. I'm surprised the tribes, homeowners and municipalities are not suing the Hell out of the contractor. What's the EPA doing?

You people talking about native fish dont realize that Coho salmon are not native to this river.

The news untruth is what got us here

All political,no concern for balance or effects,the silt released by the removal has destroyed the steelhead & salmon reeds for years to come,let alone the smolts & eggs from this year,both species are in short supply & numbers are all ready down,oh wait as usual will just replace them with stocked hatchery fish,again short term solutions to a long term problem & what's next,tired of political gain overthinking the long term issues 😢😢

So very sad and horrible

just wait till the wells start going dry next summer! Complete ecologic FUCKING failure!

It will take 30 to 50 year's for the Fish to recover . This whole thing is more destructive than the dams were !