Watersheds, rivers, fish and more

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In my area, a lot of the rivers have old low head dams on them. They are no longer seen as being necessary and some are being removed. I know of a couple cases where the dam sites have been turned into "rapids" for kayaking and to create fish habitat.

A lot of the local fishermen don't like the dam removal very much. They've gotten used to the catfish in the deeper waters above the dams, and walleye and smallmouth bass in the turbulent water below the dams. But in the long run I think it's a good thing to let the rivers go back to as natural a state as possible...
 
@elkhound this why this upsets me so much.

Xcountry trip when I was a teen. Father was too cheap to get me a fishing license around Folsom. Little brother fished and so did the old man. They didn’t catch anything.
Next stop a campground to the west of 101 along the Klamath. Everyone cooking 4 inch Salmon steaks on the grill in the Pines. Old man too cheap to get another 3 day license for him or me.
50 yrs later, I am retiring to the area. Looking forward to fishing it. And now that will be messed up until after I am gone.

Blame me for being upset?
 
i get ya..but i believe this area will recover faster as there to my understanding far less sediment than on elwha river..the elderly natives there agreed to not fish for 4 years but it had not recovered enough so they decided to wait to 10 year mark. many elders didnt live to see first fishing and catch of 400 fish in fall of 2023..but they did see the fish return better.

the kalamth got a shot in the arm after sediment went down of 900,000 fish stocked. so only thing we can do is wait and see...and like i said before..these dams were coming out regardless of anything because power company couldnt and wouldnt and wasnt going to spend money to fix them. we just have to make the best of the situation..i wish i was closer i would go plant trees as volunteer just to help things get done faster.

my advice to you...on personal level..is look for something else if this blows up in your face to do and look forward doing. maybe a different fishing spot? species of fish maybe?hiking? you get the picture i hope.
 
This was apparently filmed yesterday on the river.if you watch close theres lots of places you can see the bottom of river.theres also places you see some turbidity or its glare on camera,i seen some footage drone shot the other day and i thought it was murky water but it was glare on water because as drone got closer you could see bottom of river through the water in screen at bottom as it went past that area.One thing about the Elwha river vs. here...it stayed completely muddy for two years straight...so much so that the dipper birds and all the otters left the river system because they couldnt see to hunt and wasnt anything to hunt...the Klamath is clearly head and shoulders above that in no time flat and has been...there was just far less silt and muck to wash out than n the Elwha.The build up behind the two dams on Elwha was higher than the great pyramid...thats a load of dirt to wash out.

 
well i done some searching and found oaks grow entire length of klamath river to coast.The Yurok tribe at the mouth of river mostly and inland just a bit used fire to regenerate under-story to keep oak forest in tact and more.From one of their main places they kept it burnt for a over 2 mile radius till forced to stop...and now they are back doing it again. screenshot below from film..i wont post film as i know it has controversial stuff in it and not really geared towards this thread per say.

yurok tribe acorns.png
 
water..protecting springs and fixing broken ones. i know in my area lots of homes actually get water from springs on national forest lands and those areas are protecting those spring..like guy below its one object of usfs is watershed protection. i seen springs piped half way down a mtn to homes in my area.In private areas some springs were piped to roads so all could fill up jugs and roads had little turn outs to do so..fast forward after decades some 'outsiders' moved in bought land and didnt want folks filling up water running off their land so unhooked pipes . it caused up roar in communities...anyhow..springs protected in video.

 
re·pos·i·to·ry
[rəˈpäzəˌtôrē]
noun
repository (noun) · repositories (plural noun)
  1. a place, building, or receptacle where things are or may be stored:
    "a deep repository for nuclear waste"
    • a place in which something, especially a natural resource, has accumulated or where it is found in significant quantities:
      "accessible repositories of water"
 
@elkhound makes me sad people think they own the water, the source of water, and that they have the right to decide what happens to it and who can and can’t access it.
Where I lived in MD there was an open spring near a road, I mean an open pipe, a tiny little pool, and people could stop and capture some water. Someone did something to it and it is no longer accessible.
Good stories about the tribes and usfs working together.
Shame on newcomers who don’t let it flow.
 
Aug 31, 2011
Members of the Yakama Nation are again harvesting wapato root, a traditional, egg-shaped potato-like tribal food that had been absent from their culture for 70 years. The wapato root disappeared from Yakama's land due to agricultural diversion. In the 1990s, BPA helped the Tribe purchase a 440-acres parcel of land on Toppenish Creek as a wetland restoration project for fish and wildlife. The restored habitat has brought back the wapato.The video was produced and narrated by David Wilson.

 
Heres a conservation and clean up story for yall. The Cuyahoga River had 6 dams and was a toxic dirt sewer pit.Because of clean water act years ago they had to clean up toxic waste from industry. As time has gone on and things changed these old dams no longer in use often for decades and in a state of disrepair. So far 5 dams have been removed with last scheduled...again all of this is aging and out dated infrastructure that has to be dealt with some form or fashion..people want to get outdoors more..especially since c-19 happened.

I know there was some steelhead going up river but it had just a short run till hitting that first dam. With the 5 dams gone its gotten better and water quality has too..enough that last month they restarted state stocking steelhead...60,000 to start with and trout unlimited and other groups coupled with ohio dnr has stocked trout as well in 2022.

Things are getting better.
oct-2022


april-2024

 
see the 5 dams removed and last one to come out in next few years.


screenshot-www.youtube.com-2024.06.15-05_34_59.png
 
At Water Works Park in Cuyahoga Falls, there's something fishy going on.Members of Western Reserve Trout Unlimited Chapter 668 brought more than food; they ordered fish!With the help of the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the city of Cuyahoga Falls, they're stocking rainbow trout by the hundreds in this part of the resilient Cuyahoga River."It's the rebirth of the river," Western Reserve Trout Unlimited Vice President Mike Hanshaw said. "It's a pleasant place to be. The water's gin-clear, and I hope everyone comes out to take advantage of it."The stocked rainbows are taking to the river like, well, fish to water!"It's great for the environment," Hanshaw gushed, "and it's great for Northeast Ohio."These beautiful rainbows are the perfect lure to get folks outdoors.

oct-2022

 
Heres another example of aging infrastructure...this river dam/s have issues and..listen close before anyone gets triggered the owners have decided NOT TO FIX IT...because of cost/return ratio and more...so its been decided they will start taking it down in 2028....theres one huge issue too is theres a mile long pipe going through mtn to generate some power and that water is used in agriculture in area and water then dumps into the russian river.

What we have been doing the last decades is taking full advantage of past infrastructure that was built with cheap labor often during hard times...think of ccc projects and more and dollar being of higher value and so much more.Theres a chance these dams etc MIGHT get fixed but someone is going to pay for it..if farmers pay are you ready for higher prices to recover those costs?

Also dont think i dont know about this in my life as a dam in my area is getting newly designed,more efficient etc. better turbines to the tune of 14 million..guess who is paying for it..i am and all here are with higher rates.

so back to my point..mostly of thread..if infrastructure is failing and not going to be repaired..then it needs to be removed so we can benefit from better fish runs,high water quality and much more..in very very long view this is needed while we still can before we go into a type of post industrial society or a type of hybrid post industrial society where only certain locations are industrial in nature with factories etc.

again we have been living beyond our means and now our aging infrastructure needs attention and cost is much higher than if we started awhile back and or coupled with things we are doing...i.e. sending tons of money we dont have overseas...its needed here to fix things.

from video description

Feb 8, 2024
The Eel River is the third-largest watershed in California, and it was once one of the state’s great salmon runs, with as many as a million salmon returning annually. For a century, dams have blocked fish from reaching historic high-quality spawning grounds, and it is estimated that less than 5% of the historic fish population remains in the Eel River. In 2023, the NGO American Rivers named the Eel River one of the most endangered rivers in America. Removing the Eel River dams could restore access to more than 200 miles of habitat, but how will these changes affect the many communities connected to the river? Filmmaker Cameron Nielsen spoke to people on all sides of the issue in this visually arresting short documentary.


 
videos 30seconds to 2 minutes

updates from july 8,2024 project is moving along and water looks great. you can see the earthen part on right side being removed thats the original channel of river. they built dam and then moved the rover flow to it. they have river flowing through dam now and removing earth part and restore original channel and then open up divide to put water back in that channel and then all that left is remove concrete dam part..it also looks like some of it they are taking dirt and burying the structure or what they can of it to save time and money.



 


3 minutes

 
from across the pond...i tell you stripping steep ground along creeks is a big no no in logging industry and more. Lots of recommended practices and often times fines depending on offense and state it happens. But anyhow exposing water to sun heats it up and evaporation happens both in stream and before it gets a chance to get in stream. forested slopes hold water,wildlife and much more. When america was settled the real treasure govts were looking for was the straight white pines for ship masts for war ships...there were no ship mast trees left in europe at that time...or had become far and few between.

july 8,2024

 
wow...they got it down to bedrock it looks like....wont be long you can see the old original channel taking form...notice they are burying part of dam..i bet they bury much of it too...

1minute
7-24-24



 
great video and listen to see historical knowledge and photos showing cause and effect....fixing things is a beautiful thing for sure.

6-26-24

26 minutes

The Eel River Recovery Project - Town Creek Restoration & Education Project, Covelo CA. 2021-2024​

 
today was the day for water to go back in original channel...click white arrow to see a old black and white photo from 1956 before dam was built.


 
Patchouli said:
The one instagram video played for me without my having to log into instagram. The other, this one, would not allow.
Click to expand...
yes...i dont know why it does that...i think it has to do with if the poster clicks allow to be shown or just on instagram....hope you got to see all that dirt being moved.
 
this guy is a 2x emmy award winner for documentaries...they are out there pounding in hours and hours watching and filming for this documentary of this historic event....they wanted to check water quality since they returned river to its original channel and there had to be sediment in process...wow...looking great.,...fraction of stuff flowed down the Elwha river for sure.

https://www.instagram.com/shaneandersonfilm/reel/C-ddRvwSH1r/
 
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