How will dam removal impact Klamath water quality? Is it true that the river has always had bad water quality in the summer time?
While it may be true that water flowing from the Upper Klamath basin was historically murkier than the headwaters of many major rivers, it is also true that PacifiCorp’s dams intensify existing water quality issues while creating entirely new ones. PacifiCorp’s dams transform a naturally flowing and turbulent Klamath into a series of warm, thermally stratified, and stagnant reservoirs. This unnaturally warm and stagnant water breeds dangerous outbreaks of the toxic algae Microcystis aeruginosa in Copco and Iron Gate reservoirs. M. aeruginosa produces a liver toxin that has been documented by the Karuk Tribe at levels 4000 times what the World Health Organization considers a moderate risk to human health. This toxin, Microcystin, is considered a pollutant by the US EPA, who has put this section of the Klamath on its list of impaired water bodies as a result of legal action by Klamath Riverkeeper. When blooms are at their highest in late summer and fall, they are released into the mainst
