The Klamath River at the Iron Gate Narrows, California, January 25, 2024

Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2, and JC Boyle, the four dams of the Klamath River Renewal Project, are no longer damming the Klamath. All but the small diversion dam, Copco 2, still need removal but river water now flows freely from Keno, Oregon to the Pacific Coast of Northern California.

As part of the world's largest dam removal project, drawdown for the main reservoirs began with Iron Gate on the morning of January 10th, 2024. The upper most dam for removal, J C Boyle, was breached on January 16th, and on January 23rd the middle and oldest dam, Copco 1 was breached.

At the time of this video, water from Copco's reservoir was entering Iron Gate faster than it could leave through its release tunnel. As a result Iron Gate has been rising but is destined to empty well before summer.

The Klamath River - Forever Beautiful.