Grassroots and the Klamath River
In late August in Northern California as Berkshire Hathaway Energy and PacifiCorp executives made their way up the Klamath River by boat for a tour of the waters below their dams, local community members forced them to a halt with a blockade formed of their own canoes and boats. The confrontation was a long time coming.
“We kept up our end of the bargain to the detriment of our credibility in our communities,” Karuk Tribe member ChookChook Hillman said to the executives in audio recorded by others in the blockade. He was referring to the deal struck 10 years before between the tribe and the energy companies to remove the dams, a deal that was in jeopardy. “Our kids have never known a dam-free river,” he added.
For decades the Yurok and Karuk tribes have been demanding dam removal because of the devastating environmental impact the dams have inflicted. Last summer, utility company PacifiCorp stalled dam removal progress because of a federal decision, prompting a return to the grassroots fight against the dams by local communities. Those involved in the dam removal efforts stressed the critical role the river plays in tribal culture and the continued oppression the dams represent as reasons why they felt the need to return to the fight once again. In November, California and Oregon announced they would join the removal deal, providing a solution for unsatisfied parties. Some believe it’s because of the return to grassroots action that an agreement was finally reached.
A deal undone
The Klamath River flows from southern Oregon to California into the Pacific Ocean. The river basin covers an area of 12,000 square miles and is home to a diverse ecosystem of fish, particularly salmon. Utility companies dammed the Klamath throughout the 20th century.
The Yurok and Karuk tribes of California have always lived with the river. And for decades, they fought to undam it, finally seemingly succeeding 10 years ago, when the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) was signed by representatives of the tribes, PacifiCorp, the states of California and Oregon, federal agencies, and fishing groups. The agreement aimed to remove four of PacifiCorp’s dams on the Klamath which produced less than 2% of PacifiCorp’s overall generation; replacing that power was never an issue or concern. It would be the largest dam removal in U.S. history. But the KHSA died in Congress and was amended in 2016 through the formation of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC.)
Signatories of the KHSA came together and formed the KRRC, a nonprofit that would take ownership of the PacifiCorp dams and be responsible for the undamming process. PacifiCorp, which is owned by Warren Buffet’s company Berkshire Hathaway Energy, was to fully relinquish all interest in the project and would no longer be a licensee to the dams.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency responsible for overseeing the project, made a change to the deal last July. Citing the magnitude of the project and potential unexpected costs, FERC decided that PacifiCorp would need to remain a co-licensee of the dams, maintaining some responsibility. PacifiCorp then backpedaled to the negotiating table, halting the project.
Glen Spain, northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association and board member of the KRRC, said the halt didn’t make much sense. Spain said there was still essentially no risk for PacifiCorp as a co-licensee because of the insurance and financial responsibility the KRRC has in place. PacifiCorp disagreed.
“We view the FERC order as changing the terms of the settlement that we based our arguments on for why this is a good outcome,” said Bob Gravely, spokesperson for PacifiCorp.
Most pressing though, is the continued havoc the dams will wreak on the basin if they don’t come down, the very reason the tribes and others fought the dams all those years ago. The dams have contributed to low water flow, lethally high water temperatures for salmon, increased parasites and toxic algal blooms.
Spain said if the dams aren’t removed, Northern California could see the collapse of its entire salmon population which would create a cascading effect, destabilizing other wildlife that depend on the fish. He said it could cripple the California tribes who have always relied on the salmon.
“It becomes a form of economic genocide,” Spain said.
Spain added that the dams are nearly obsolete and will break down on their own if nothing is done.
“Nature always bets last on this one and dam removal is inevitable,” Spain said. “It’s just a matter of how and when.”
River reliance jeopardized
For the Yurok and Karuk tribes, any further delay gives the dams more time to choke the river, time they don’t think they have.
The tribes have always relied on salmon as a food source and the fish are a critical part of the tribes’ cultures. Now, it’s impossible to rely on the fish as they previously did. In remote areas where many people depend on the river for food and income, the damage to the fish stocks has hit the tribes hard.
“Historically Karuk Indians living on the Klamath river were consuming pounds of fish a day per person,” said Craig Tucker, who has worked with the Karuk Tribe on dam removal efforts since 2002. “Now they’re lucky to get four pounds of fish a year per person.”
For Molli Myers and many other members of the Karuk Tribe, the fight for dam removal is deeply personal. She has been campaigning and advocating for removal for 20 years.
Myers grew up in the Klamath River Basin. Her family always relied on the river. Myers’ father used to take his old, red Chevy truck fishing. He’d return home with a truck bed full of fish. Myers and her family would ride around in the back and distribute fish to elders and others who couldn’t fish for themselves.
She remembers the smell of all the fish. And she remembers staying up late into the night to fill the smokehouse with her father’s catch and keep the bears away.
“My whole life has been on the river. It’s in every memory that I have,” Myers said. “And now it’s not like that.”
Myers’ 7- and 8-yearold children live differently. Up until this year, they never made memories catching fish. Some years they simply couldn’t catch anything because there were so few salmon, others they’d refrain from trying because the fish stock was too low.
So when the deal was made for dam removal 10 years ago, Myers and
other grassroots organizers felt cautiously optimistic. Over the years they relied on the river’s salmon as much as they could and expected their fortunes to change once the dams were removed as planned. Then, progress this summer came to a screeching halt when PacifiCorp went back to renegotiation.
“It was a huge blow,” Myers said.
Grassroots organizers like Myers who helped start the original campaign for dam removal went back to planning and grassroots organizing for the first time in years.
Action came in different forms. There was the river blockade when community members confronted energy executives. There were also multiple online social media campaigns and forums. And eventually protests were organized.
On Oct. 23, people throughout the country held a day of action calling for dam removal. Demonstrations were held in Portland outside PacifiCorp’s headquarters, Sacramento and in Omaha, Nebraska, outside Buffet’s home.
Then, on Nov. 17, California and Oregon announced they would join the dam removal agreement. The state governments intend to resolve FERC’s concerns by nearly doubling the contingency fund of the KRRC and sharing financial responsibility with PacifiCorp if there are unexpected costs. Now, the project awaits FERC to approve the transfer of the license for the dams and the removal plan. If everything is approved, dam removal will begin in 2023.
‘The ongoing genocide’
Some tribal members see the dams and the delay in progress as a continuing form of oppression. Samuel Gensaw, member of the Yurok Tribe and founding director of the Indigenous organizing network Ancestral Guard, was in a boat before he could walk. He’s always been a fisherman and he remembers the first time he was moved to action by deteriorating conditions on the Klamath.
It was during the infamous 2002 fish kill, when over 34,000 fish died in the river due to a combination of conditions. Scientific analysis determined that low flow from one of the dams was a “substantive causative factor” in the kill.
Thousands of dead fish lined the shores of the river that year. The stench was overwhelming. Gensaw said he remembers his grandmother crying, and she rarely cried.
“That was the first time I ever smelled the long-term effects of genocide,” he said.
Frankie Myers, vice chairman of the Yurok Tribe and Molli Myers’ husband, also says the dams are a form of continued persecution of Indigenous people.
Frankie Myers’ grandmother grew up in a traditional Yurok household. She told him stories of villages being burnt to the ground and of Indigenous people forced into boarding schools. For him, the dams are a modern day continuation of that persecution.
“We call it the ongoing genocide and the dams are a perfect example of that,” Frankie Myers said. “This is not history, this is what’s happening right now.”
But he said he has hope and believes the dams will be removed.
“I know this is gonna happen because we’re committed to it and we have no other option but to fight,” Frankie Myers said.“We’ve come back from the brink before and we’ll do it again.”
Molli Myers said the states coming on board is a big step forward and that she and other tribal members are excited about the progress. The recent return to grassroots organizing and action were instrumental in that progress, she added.
“No major movements have ever happened on the Klamath without grassroots pressure,” Molli Myers said. “It has always been the catalyst for change.”