Webinars

Topic: Opportunities and Challenges for Pollinator Habitat on Solar Farms

Study Links:

Who Are the Pollinators? | Xerces Society
What is Pollination? | US Forest Service (usda.gov)
Buzzing Around Solar: Pollinator Habitat Under Solar Arrays | Department of Energy

Study link: https://extension.umn.edu/soil-management-and-health/five-factors-soil-formation

Topic: Klamath Dam Removal:  Regulatory History and Tribal Perspectives
Time: April 2 @ 4:00 – 5:30 pm

Synopsis: The removal of four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River dam  is one of the largest dam removals in history of the United States, This webinar will focus on part of the history, the issues resulting from the and  the  regulatory process of the dam removal.  The webinar will also present Tribal perspectives on bridging the gaps between traditional ecological knowledge and contemporary science as it relates to the dam removal.

Speakers 

Sue Keydel is a scientist who worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Division as a watershed restoration coordinator for over 20 years. For over a decade she was actively involved in the regulatory process of the Klamath dam removal project. 

Keith Parker is a Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Yurok Tribe of California and an enrolled Tribal member. He co-stewards harvest management of fish on the lower 44-miles of the Klamath River and conducts genetic analysis of returning Trinity River Hatchery salmon in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz. Keith also chairs two graduate student committees at UC San Diego – SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography and is a lecturer at Cal Poly Humboldt, teaching ESM 105 (Natural Resource Conservation). 

Study links – (55 minutes total)

1. Video – Inside the fight behind one of the largest-ever dam removals – Washington Post – 6 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy6zzFZCi0s
2. Video & article – Multiple viewpoints and issues related to the Dam removal  – Klamath dams are coming out | Dam removal project on the Klamath River | Oregon Field Guide – Oregon Public Broadcasting – 11 minutes –  https://www.opb.org/article/2023/10/06/massive-dam-removal-project-spurs-hope-in-the-klamath-basin/
3. Audio and Article – After a century of displacement, Shasta Indian Nation sees hope in dam removal – Oregon Public Broadcasting (4.5 minutes) – https://www.opb.org/article/2023/10/15/klamath-oregon-dam-removal-shasta-indian-nation-native-american-indigenous-culture/
4. Video – ABC News – World’s biggest dam removal project changing a California river – multiple viewpoints (14 minutes) – https://youtu.be/VOh705rE_6w?si=VONbbk_M3k449emQ
5. Video – KGW News  – Crews begin reservoir drawdown on Klamath River dam removal project (2 minutes) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdFVu4DgDaI
6. Video & article – As Klamath River dams come down, old lands emerge and the landscape begins to heal (overview of drawdown impacts) – AZ Central (2 minutes)  https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2024/02/16/klamath-river-undergoes-heart-surgery-as-dams-come-down/72497464007/
7. Video – Swiftwater Films – timelapse of deconstruction of Copco 2 dam – Fall 2023  (3 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWkzUEFTCms&pp=ygUWc2hhbmUgYW5kZXJzb24ga2xhbWF0aA%3D%3D
8. Copco Lake after  drawdown – Klamath River Dam Removal (drone footage 2/2/24) – (3 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPf3o5Oq5X8

Additional Resources:

1. Water Education Foundation –
   1. summary of Basin issues https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/klamath-river-basin
   2. Klamath River Basin Chronology – https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/klamath-river-basin-chronology
2. OSU Podcast –  What it takes to take down a dam – 10 episodes-  https://agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu/klamath/what-it-takes-to-take-down-a-dam/ 
   1. Why did we do this? – Desiree Tullos/Prof. Water Resources Engineering, OSU
   2. I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing this for my kids. – Barry McCovey Jr., Yurok Tribal member and director of the Fisheries Program for the Tribe on management, restoration, and science around fisheries on the river
   3. The Healing Process has begun.  – Mark Bransom, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, shares lots of fascinating details about the timeline, logistics, etc.
   4. Getting to the dam removal decision. – Bob Gravely / PacifiCorp explains how the private electric utility reached the decision that removing their four dams on the Klamath River was in the best interest of ratepayers.
   5. How Gwen sleeps at night: Communication, expertise, and partnering in the project of a career.  – Gwen Santos with Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) walks us through how
      the many contractors are orchestrating such a large project, and why constant communication and the right expertise are essential. She explains some of the vast scale of site restoration, a large and often underappreciated aspect of all dam.
   6. The fish will figure it out. – Dr. Tommy Williams from NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Tommy provides a clear overview of why the dam removal is so important for the Klamath River fish as the system faces climate change and other threats
   7. Lessons in adaptive environmental permitting.  – Chris Stine with ODEQ walks us through how the states (CA and OR) worked the permitting process to support the projects,
      setting an important precedence for how environmental permitting can adapt
      along with the environment
   8. There will be mud! – Chauncey Anderson, recently retired from the US Geological Survey, helps unpack what we think we know about the water quality changes ahead for the Klamath, what could happen with all of that sediment (13 million cubic yards) stored behind the dams, and how the temperature, nutrients, and algae in the river could change.
   9. A lot to celebrate: White water guides talk Klamath dams and dam removal. – guides
      from Indigo Creek Outfitters discuss the “Upper Klamath” (bleow JC Boyle dam) with legendary rapids with big waves and exciting drops. With the dams gone, flows will be much more variable and less predictable, eliminating the reach as a reliable option for guiding
      businesses – a loss for recreational users of the river, but also creating new opportunities.
   10. It feels like we have no control – Two local landowners at Copco Lake, share their perspectives on the impacts of the dam removals on local residents, as well as the threats facing rural communities in the American West more broadly
3. PacifiCorp’s Klamath webpage – https://www.pacificorp.com/energy/hydro/klamath-river.html
4. Klamath River Renewal Corp (KRRC) – https://klamathrenewal.org/
5. Klamath Dam Removal Overview Report for the Secretary of the Interior. An Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information.  March 2013 – https://klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/A7-Full-SDOR-accessible-022216.pdf
6. Klamath Basin Monitoring Program – facilitates the coordination and implementation of water quality monitoring in support of the stewardship, protection, and restoration of all beneficial uses within the Klamath River watershed, with the goal of restoring water quality.
   1. Home page has recent articles, reports etc – great info source!
   2. ID’s: partners, WQ monitoring, real-time Cyanobacteria blooms (BGA Tracker) and fish health data,
   3. Meetings, Presentation’s, and important documents- excellent overview to the many players needed to steward a watershed.  – https://kbmp.net/documents/meeting-minutes
7. Scott River Watershed Feb 2024 meeting (tour and watershed management/restoration  

1. Scott Watershed Informational Forum (SWIF) Field Tour 2024
2. Water Rights Workshop, Scott Watershed Informational Forum and Soil Health and Scott Valley Agricultural Water Conservation Forum 2024

Study Links:

• Renewable Energy Types and Their Impact on Soil Health (forestnation.com)
• The role of soils in provision of energy | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (royalsocietypublishing.org)
• Pairing Regenerative Farming and Solar Energy Production to Improve Urban Resilience – Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (foundationfar.org)