Supporting Klamath Dam Removal and River Restoration

For more than a century, farmers and ranchers, Native American Tribes and conservationists have battled over how to allocate the Klamath Basin’s limited water supplies. After devastating drought in 2001-2002 brought clashes between local communities to new heights, a broad coalition of more than 40 stakeholders negotiated the terms of three companion Klamath Agreements. When Congress failed to pass legislation to implement the Agreements in full, key players regrouped to find a way forward to remove four aging Klamath River dams to help restore the river, and the communities that depend on it, to ecological and economic health.

In the fall of 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a plan to demolish the four lower Klamath Dams, and by the fall of 2024, the dams were out. This was the largest dam removal and river restoration project in US history.

Since 2013, Public Good PR has supported coalitions representing a variety of stakeholder groups in the basin. In recent years, we have provided strategic and organizational support for a group of NGOs and Tribes working to promote dam removal and ensure reporting about the project was accurate. We have provided strategic communications advice, drafted print and media outreach materials and fostered effective communication among coalition members. We also ran a large informational webinar for other NGOs and Tribes after the first dam came out, to foster the spread of accurate and effective communication about the issue.