“In August 2024, excavation crews breached the last of four dams on the Klamath River in far northern California, marking the first time in over a century that salmon could swim above the dam sites.

Now, new research published on Thursday shows that in the two years since dam removal, over 20,000 chinook salmon have migrated up the Klamath River, many past the former dam sites and into traditional spawning grounds…

Following dam removal, water quality improved as high-temperature, algae-bloom-prone reservoirs returned to natural flows. Chinook salmon repopulated close to 90 percent of their previous range and imperiled coho salmon, steelhead, and Pacific lamprey all returned within the first year.”

From Inside Climate News.