CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study of the largest dam removal project in United States history on the Klamath River in Oregon and California is offering new insight into a long-running water conflict by finding that farmers and conservation groups share priorities that may help guide decision-making on future river restoration projects.
Researchers from Oregon State University found that farmers and conservation groups have a mutual understanding in four main areas: future uncertainty; a need for better collaboration and trust; an ecosystem-based approach to river restoration; and a willingness to experiment with creative management options.
“Our research shows the Klamath Basin is not just defined by conflict,” said Bryan Tilt, an anthropology professor at Oregon State and lead author of the study. “Farmers and conservation groups share important priorities, and those areas of agreement can help guide more collaborative management decisions in the basin and inform future river restoration efforts elsewhere.”
The Klamath River runs more than 250 miles along the Oregon-California border, through high desert, rainforest and redwoods to reach the Pacific Ocean. Four hydropower dams constructed between 1912 and 1963 were removed in 2023-24 to restore salmon habitat and improve water quality.
Removal of these dams has been discussed for decades and was slow to occur because of competing interests and a complex mix of state and federal agencies and tribal nations involved in Klamath Basin decision-making.
As the dam removal project ramped up and occurred, Tilt and his team of three current and former graduate students - Hannah Boone, Jenna Davis and Rebecca Wheaton - set out to better understand those competing interests.
The new study focused on two of those groups: agricultural producers, which consists of farmers and ranchers who use irrigation water from the Klamath and its major tributaries; and conservation groups, which include scientists and policy experts working on conservation and restoration of salmon in the basin.
They conducted a total of 55 mostly in-person interviews, each lasting one to two hours, with individuals in the two groups. Interview responses were then analyzed through the lens of “cultural models,” a framework used in anthropology that describes worldviews, values and beliefs shared within a group.
The researchers then determined how opinions on management priorities differ and align among the two groups. The top priorities for each group, with a percentage of respondents who indicated each as a priority, were:
The researchers also found the four areas of shared concern:
These findings are especially important at a time in the United States when dams are increasingly aging out and being removed. The American Rivers Dam Removal Database listed 2,095 dam removals as of 2024, with a majority occurring in the past two decades.
“Understanding how cultural models of these groups diverge and converge can improve dialogue and support more effective management,” Tilt said.
The research was funded by Oregon Sea Grant through NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program, U.S. Department of Commerce, award no. NA24OARX417C0023.
Society & Natural Resources