Global InformationKlamath River information
| Klamath River Link River, Everglades of the West[1] | |
|---|---|
 The Klamath River in California | |
 Map of the Klamath River watershed | |
| Etymology | For the Indigenous tribe called "Klamath" by early 19th-century white travelers[2] |
| Native name | Ishkêesh (Karok) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon, California |
| City | Klamath Falls |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Upper Klamath Lake |
| • location | Klamath Falls, Oregon |
| • coordinates | 42°11′29″N 121°46′58″W / 42.19139°N 121.78278°W[3] |
| • elevation | 4,090 ft (1,250 m)[4] |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
• location | Requa, California |
• coordinates | 41°32′49″N 124°5′0″W / 41.54694°N 124.08333°W[3] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 257 mi (414 km)[5] |
| Basin size | 15,689 sq mi (40,630 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | near mouth (Klamath, CA) |
| • average | 16,780 cu ft/s (475 m3/s) |
| • minimum | 1,310 cu ft/s (37 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 557,000 cu ft/s (15,800 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Shasta River, Scott River, Salmon River, Trinity River |
| • right | Achelth Creek |
National Wild and Scenic River | |
| Type | Wild: 11.7 miles (18.8 km) Scenic: 34.5 miles (55.5 km) Recreational: 250.8 miles (403.6 km) |
| Designated | January 19, 1981 (California)[6] September 22, 1994 (Oregon)[7] |
The Klamath River (Karuk: Ishkêesh,[8] Klamath: Koke,[9] Yurok: Hehlkeek 'We-Roy[10]) flows 257 miles (414 km)[5] through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second largest river in California after the Sacramento River. Its nearly 16,000-square-mile (41,000 km2) watershed stretches from the high desert of south-central Oregon to the temperate rainforest of the North Coast. Unlike most rivers, the Klamath begins in a desert region and flows through the rugged Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains before reaching the ocean; National Geographic magazine has called the Klamath "a river upside down".[11]
The Klamath is the most important North American river south of the Columbia River for anadromous fish migration.[12] Its salmon, steelhead and rainbow trout have adapted to unusually high water temperatures and acidity levels relative to other rivers in the Pacific Northwest. The upper Klamath Basin includes large areas of tule marshes, which provide key habitat for migratory birds. Most of the lower basin is on national forest land, with much of it designated wilderness.
Native Americans have depended on the river and its fisheries for at least 7,000 years. In the 1820s, fur trappers were the first Europeans to enter the Klamath River basin, establishing the Siskiyou Trail along the Klamath and Trinity rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The California Gold Rush drew thousands of prospectors and drove the early settlement of the region, leading to conflicts with indigenous tribes. Conflict and disease reduced the indigenous population by 90 percent. Although most tribes in the upper river were moved to reservations, several tribes along the lower river retain some of their original lands.
During the late 19th century, the upper Klamath basin developed into a productive farming region surrounding Klamath Falls, Oregon, and many of the wetlands surrounding the river were drained. Steamboats provided transportation on the area's lakes before the arrival of railroads. Several hydroelectric dams were built on the river from the 1920s to the 1960s. In the mid-20th century, the Klamath River was targeted by federal water management agencies with ambitious proposals to direct its flow to populous central and southern California. These projects, such as the Klamath Diversion, were canceled due to opposition from tribes, environmentalists and the fishing industry.
With some of the longest undammed stretches of river in California, the Klamath is popular for recreational boating and fishing. However, dams and diversions in the upper basin often cause water quality issues in the lower half of the river. Tribes and environmental organizations have proposed broad changes to water use in the Klamath Basin, including the removal of several dams on the river to expand fish habitat. They put forth their concerns in what is now the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, a water management plan signed by local communities, governments, tribal groups, environmentalists, and fishermen. In 2019, the Yurok tribe declared personhood for the Klamath River. Four dams on the river are slated for removal by the end of 2024, in one of the largest dam removal projects ever undertaken in the US.[13][needs update][14] However, heavy use of Klamath River water for irrigation, as well as pollution associated with agricultural runoff, remain at odds with management of the river's fisheries and wider ecology.[15]
- ^ "EPA approves historic salmon restoration plan for Klamath River". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. January 4, 2011. Archived from the original on August 14, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
- ^ McArthur, pp. 541–542
- ^ a b "Klamath River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. January 19, 1981. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
- ^ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS coordinates.
- ^ a b "National Hydrography Dataset via National Map Viewer". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ^ "National Wild and Scenic Rivers System". rivers.gov. National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
- ^ "Klamath River, Oregon". rivers.gov. National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
- ^ Bright, William; Susan Gehr. "Karuk Dictionary and Texts". Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
- ^ McArthur, p. 542
- ^ "Yurok Dictionary: Hehlkeek 'We-Roy". Archived from the original on May 8, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
- ^ Rymer, Russ. "Reuniting a River: After fighting for years over its water, farmers, indigenous peoples and fishermen are joining forces to let the troubled Klamath River run wild again" (PDF). National Geographic (December 2008). National Geographic Society: 142. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
- ^ Yardley, William (July 18, 2012). "Tea Party Blocks Pact to Restore a West Coast River". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
- ^ Klamath River Dam Removal by Reis Thebault, Alice Li and Melina Mara in the Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2023. The authors wrote: "The largest-ever dam removal is underway, a milestone in the nation’s reckoning over its past attempts to bend nature to human will."
- ^ 6 Things You Need To Know About The Klamath River Dam Removals by Marcus Kahn on the AmericanRivers.org website, June 23, 2023 and updated in Jan. 2024. Last access 12/18/2023
- ^ On the Klamath, Dam Removal May Come Too Late to Save the Salmon by Jacques Leslie in YaleEnvironment360 published at the Yale School of the Environment, September 28, 2021.