Removal of Lovelace Dam

The Open Rivers Fund has partnered with the Rogue River Watershed Council, Rogue Basin Partnership, Applegate Partnership, and others to capitalize on the mainstem Rogue River dam removals by removing the many barriers on the smaller Rogue tributaries. In its first six years, Open Rivers Fund has removed 18 dams in the Rogue Basin, opening 157 miles of rivers and creeks for people and fish.

This Open Rivers Fund video shows how a push-up dam was transformed into a fish-passable roughened channel on Williams Creek, less than a mile from its confluence with Applegate River. The newly installed headgate allows nearby farmers to continue irrigating, with less maintenance and more efficiency.

This Open Rivers Fund video details the removal of an old push-up dam on Salt Creek and the installation of a headgate to facilitate ongoing irrigation diversions while allowing fish passage to cool-water habitat.

The Smith-Meyer-Roper diversion dam was built in the early 1900’s to provide irrigation water. The structure blocks coho and steelhead from accessing spawning and rearing habitat. The dam was removed in 2019 and replaced with a roughened channel and headgate that continues to allow landowners to divert water for irrigation, while also allowing fish passage. “We really like to think of this project as being win-win-win in terms of salmon habitat, land management goals, and helping out the local economy,” says Alexis Larsen, Project Manager, Rogue River Watershed Council.

Beeson-Robison Dam was an inefficient irrigation structure located on Wagner Creek, a tributary to Bear River, that was removed in 2017. Replacing the dam with a roughened channel and headgate system allows salmon and steelhead to access cool-water spawning and rearing habitat, while providing a more efficient irrigation structure that saves irrigators time and money. “There really is no negative,” says Bob Hackett, landowner on Wagner Creek.

Annie Creek runs 15 miles south from its headwaters in Crater Lake National Park to join the Wood River as it flows into Upper Klamath Lake. The upstream portion of Annie Creek is pristine, but the lower reach has been impacted by eight irrigation diversion dams that block fish passage and entrain juvenile fish. This video tells the story of how removing these small irrigation dams and further restoration of the Klamath Basin is likely to show the highest rate of return for native fisheries on the Pacific Coast.

This Open Rivers Fund video details the transformation of an outdated agriculture diversion into a modernized system that diverts water with less effort and maintenance and allows fish passage and recreation access.

This video from Open Rivers Fund provides an overview of efforts to restore Montana's Upper Clark Fork River, which has been contaminated by long-time mining operations. Clark Fork Coalition, Trout Unlimited, and others are partnering to update eight dams with solutions that benefit communities, local economies, and fish.

The Tulalip Tribe Natural Resources Department leads the way in a fish restoration project in Carnation, WA. Natasha Coumou Assistant Restoration Ecologist explains why.

Bear River is a working river supporting agriculture and ranching. But over time, the river has suffered and so have the native Bonneville cutthroat trout. Open Rivers Fund is working with Western Native Trout Initiative to remove 13 diversions in the Bear River watershed to open up 90 miles of habitat for native trout, while improving the irrigation function the river provides.

To a rancher or farmer, water is everything. On the Bear River, the Booth Diversion Dam was an inefficient irrigation structure that blocked fish passage. This project removed the structure and replaced it with a series of rock structures that provide small elevation gains so that water can still be diverted upstream. The project brought together diverse stakeholders working toward common goals and showcases potential for similar efforts in the region that improve water delivery for landowners and restore fish passage. “It made my life a lot easier,” says Wade Lowham, owner Arrow Ranch.

Film courtesy of Wahoo Films and the Warner Basin Aquatic Habitat Partnership partners: The Western Native Trout Initiative is helping the Warner Basin Aquatic Habitat Partnership fund 10 projects over 6 years to benefit water users in this critically important watershed while also benefiting Warner Lakes Redband Trout and Warner sucker.

To celebrate its first five years of work, Open Rivers Fund worked with film director Jason Jaacks to produce a documentary highlighting several dynamic dam removal projects and partnerships that are reshaping waterways across the American West. The film takes a look at aging dams and the problems they cause, answering a question made increasingly urgent by climate change: How can we rethink our water management to benefit all?