Tuesday April 16, 2024
American Rivers —
Today, American Rivers named the Trinity River, the largest tributary of the Klamath River, among America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2024. Excessive water withdrawals and rising water temperatures threaten the river, and the people and salmon who depend on it.
With the removal of the Klamath River dams, a watershed-wide restoration effort has begun. The Trinity River–the main source of cold, clean water for the Lower Klamath River where over 65,000 adult salmon died in 2002–is critical to this effort.
“Rivers cannot be harvested for their parts and remain healthy, just like we can’t divert excessive volumes of blood from our body without experiencing systemic failure. We need to stop thinking of the Trinity as a piped tributary to the Sacramento River and recognize that its natural value to the Klamath far exceeds any single Central Valley user’s benefit,” said Ann Willis, California Regional Director, American Rivers.
The Trinity River is diverted into the Sacramento River for the Central Valley Water Project. Outdated water management has led to reservoir depletion, rising river temperatures, and other environmental impacts that put threatened coho salmon and Chinook salmon at risk. The Hoopa, Yurok and other Tribes are also dealing with some of the lowest salmon returns in history and toxic algae outbreaks, which impacts cultural use, food security, wellness, and livelihoods.