Dams are not forever – but neither are salmon, if the dams block their path home. So increasingly in the United States and in Europe, as people realize that rivers their grandparents once fished for food are now almost empty, dams installed to generate power are being removed so the salmon can return home.

The Klamath River, which runs from Oregon into northern California, teemed with millions of chinook salmon until huge dams blocked them from their upstream spawning grounds; only 46,000 migrated successfully in 2020. The story is similar in the United Kingdom, where recent reports have shown that the UK’s once abundant native salmon population has collapsed, and in Europe, where migratory fish populations have declined 93% over the last 50 years.

In the US, four large dams are being torn down in what is called the world’s largest dam removal project, and the world’s largest salmon restoration project. On March 10, 2023, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation broke ground on removal activities for the dams. By September 2023, the first and smallest dam, Copco #2, will be removed. In January 2024, drawdown of the reservoirs will begin and all four dams will be gone by the end of 2024. Restoration work will continue well beyond 2024.