Four hydro dams were shut down on the West Coast
For West Coast tribes, the salmon is a sacred animal and was given by the Creator for sustenance and spiritual connections to the land. The Yurok tribe is no different to the other West Coast tribes, and their culture and economy has been threatened by hydroelectric dams that caused the disappearance of salmon in the Klamath River in Oregon.
The dams currently blockade the fish from their historic breeding grounds, degrade water quality, spread fish disease, and stunt algae blooming.
“Our allocation of fish this year doesn’t meet half of our subsistence for our people,” said Yurok tribe vice chairman David Gensaw. “This is a threat to our culture, our religion and the economic survival of our people.”
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…blockade the fish from their historic breeding grounds…[/pullquote]
In 2001, water deliveries to farmers and ranchers were severely restricted. Salmon also suffered from a decreasing populations a year later. As a result, salmon harvests have been significantly reduced for Indigenous peoples, and both recreational and professional fisherman.
The governors of California and Oregon have both come to an agreement to destroy four of the dams that have destroyed ecosystems and damaged the culture of the Yurok tribe. The agreement, signed last Wednesday, sought to tear down the four hydroelectric dams that disrupted ecosystems, tribes, and farmers and ranchers water supply.
“This is a huge exercise of humankind fixing some of the mistakes of the past,” said Jerry Brown, the governor of California.
The agreement includes promises to keep a six-year-old settlement process that failed when Congress did not pass a bill last year.
By removing the dams and providing price assurances to farmers, backers hope that Congress will be encouraged to pass the larger deal.
One of the tribes in the surrounding Klamath River area has already obtained senior water rights through the courts, thus limiting water rights for farmers and ranchers. Klamath River basin agriculture is estimated at $670 million annually.
Scott White, head of Klamath Water Use Association, said the agricultural interests he represents had no stake in the dam removal, but he hopes that the efforts will increase water rights.
“The Klamath River is a precious resource,” White said. “There is much left to be done to preserve the interests of the communities that it serves.”
Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry emphasized that the c’iyaal’s (salmon) were placed in the river by the Creator and have been integral to provide sustenance for the tribe. The c’iyaal’s also hold high cultural importance for the Klamath tribes.
“We won’t be whole, and we won’t be complete as a people, until we can once again fish for our c’iyaal’s,” Gentry said.