{"id":27217,"date":"2025-01-23T20:49:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T20:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/?p=27217"},"modified":"2025-10-13T16:10:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:10:37","slug":"as-america-reckons-with-dams-mongolian-scientists-take-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/2025\/01\/23\/as-america-reckons-with-dams-mongolian-scientists-take-note\/","title":{"rendered":"As America reckons with dams, Mongolian scientists take note"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lessons from the West could help inform a more fish-friendly future for Mongolia.<\/h2>\n\n\n
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From a platform high above the former site of the Iron Gate Dam in Northern California, Mongolian scientists take in a sweeping view of the newly free-flowing Klamath River. (PC: Wild Salmon Center.) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On a crisp mid-October morning on Northern California\u2019s Klamath River, eight Mongolians peered over the rail of a ridgetop platform, taking in the spectacular view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far below the Mongolia delegation members\u2014experts in aquatic ecosystems, biology, chemistry, and construction engineering\u2014an arc of river flowed freely through a gentle gorge<\/strong>. Just months ago, the floor of this gorge had been 200 feet underwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a vista made possible by the absence of the 60-year-old Iron Gate Dam. The massive earthen wall once generated hydropower for thousands of households, but its usefulness had waned in recent decades. By the turn of the 21st century, Iron Gate\u2014much like three even older dams immediately upstream\u2014produced little energy. To stay in place, its private owners would need to invest in costly modern upgrades, including fish passage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, starting in 2023, Iron Gate Dam and its upriver counterparts came down as part of the largest dam removal in history<\/strong>. The $500 million project stemmed from decades of activism and leadership from Tribes including the Karuk and Yurok, the active support of multiple governors on both sides of the Oregon\/California border, and the formation of a new nonprofit entity, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, to oversee the massive undertaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Far below the Mongolians, an arc of river flowed freely. Just months ago, the floor of this gorge had been 200 feet underwater.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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In mid October 2024, a knowledge exchanged facilitated by the Wild Salmon Center-led International Taimen Initiative brought eight Mongolian experts in aquatic ecosystems, biology, chemistry, and construction engineering to the Klamath River Basin on the Oregon-California border. (PC: WSC.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With Iron Gate\u2019s reservoir now gone, the Mongolian delegation could see the former dam\u2019s namesake rock flanges on either side of the riverbanks. Sweeping up those banks, native seedlings were already taking root<\/a>: willow and lupine, oaks and yarrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mongolian experts were here to ask big questions<\/strong>. As guests of a knowledge exchange hosted by Wild Salmon Center\u2019s International Taimen Initiative<\/a>, their presence here aimed in part to advance a global dialogue on how best to protect taimen<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest salmonids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mongolia is home to some of the most pristine and productive taimen rivers across Eurasia. But the nation is also looking for ways to sustainably develop and expand its domestic energy production. That drive for energy means that some of Mongolia’s most iconic taimen rivers are also now attractive locations for new hydropower dams and water storage infrastructure<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is why, this October morning, the Mongolian experts wanted to see firsthand what it looks like to dam\u2014and undam\u2014a salmon river. As one visiting Mongolian scientist explained: \u201cWe have to inform the decision makers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They put their questions to another expert: Toz Soto, program manager for the Karuk Fisheries Program. For years, Soto advocated for the Klamath dams to come down on behalf of his employer, the Karuk Tribe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With dam removal underway this summer, Soto helped advise the Klamath River Renewal Corporation on how best to protect fisheries during the complicated deconstruction process. Now, the project was complete. Looking down at the newly free-flowing river, Soto told the Mongolian delegation that the sight \u201cstill takes my breath away<\/a>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the largest dam removal to occur in the world,\u201d Soto reflected. \u201cI think it sets a good precedent for us as humans when infrastructure is built, lives its life, and is removed. Dams are not permanent. And that can give folks that love rivers and salmon hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis is the largest dam removal to occur in the world. I think it sets a good precedent for us as humans when infrastructure is built, lives its life, and is removed.\u201d<\/p>\nToz Soto, Karuk Fisheries Program Manager<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Taimen and Salmon: Headwater Lessons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the Klamath dams went in, salmonid conservation science was in its infancy<\/strong>. Researchers didn\u2019t understand the genetics that drive spring Chinook to climb higher in rivers<\/a> than their fall-run cousins. Few knew that some salmonids make use of vast stretches of freshwater<\/a> very early in life. And we hadn\u2019t yet experienced the full costs of cutting off wild fish runs from their natal streams<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 1913 until dam removal, the majority of the Klamath River Basin had been blocked to salmon. Three of the four dams built on the Klamath mainstem\u2014Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, and Copco No. 2\u2014were built without any fish passage at all<\/strong>. In recent decades, as Tribes and conservation groups pushed for dam removal, some opponents argued that salmon never migrated above Iron Gate. They claimed it was a myth that salmon ever made use of spawning and rearing habitat higher up in Klamath Lake and its tributaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When the Klamath dams went in, we hadn\u2019t yet experienced the full costs of cutting off wild fish runs from their natal streams.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Before its removal in Summer 2025, the Iron Gate Dam soared 170 feet above the Klamath River. Built without fish passage, it was the lowest of a four-dam chain that, together, blocked migrating salmon for more than a century. (PC: Alamy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Karuk and other Tribes, of course, knew this argument was false; they had oral (and photographic<\/a>) history to prove that Klamath salmon migrated far into what is now called Oregon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Above a chain of dams on the lower Klamath River (two, the Link and Keno, remain in place), genetic scientists including Wild Salmon Center’s Dr. Tasha Thompson and Dr. Matthew Sloat discovered<\/a> the DNA presence of both spring and fall Chinook bones<\/a> at archeological sites that ranged 5,000 years old to the 1860s. The sites include: a) Williamson River Bridge; b) Bezuksewas Village; c) Kawumkan Springs Midden; d) Beatty Curve. (Graph courtesy Dr. Tasha Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 2017, genetic science caught up with Tribal knowledge. Research by current Wild Salmon Center scientists and others confirmed that both spring and fall Chinook did indeed travel hundreds of miles to reach the upper Klamath Basin<\/a>\u2014both in the distant past, and up until roughly the time of the dams\u2019 construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Klamath River mainstem stretches some 260 miles from its estuary near Crescent City, California, to Klamath Lake in Oregon. That\u2019s already an epic journey for salmon. But genetic data show that Klamath salmon traveled all the way to spring-fed upper lake tributaries like the Wood and Sprague\u2014through salt marshes and pine forests, shallows and cascades, algae-rich lake expanses and cold, steep mountain streams<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To take in the full scope of this vast pre-dam salmon habitat, the Mongolia delegation began their three-day tour 100 miles north of the Iron Gate. Here, in the uppermost reaches of the Klamath\u2019s historic salmonid habit, Chinook salmon and steelhead haven\u2019t been present for at least a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing by the banks of the gin-clear Wood River, Wild Salmon Center Mongolia Senior Manager Dr. Saulyegul Avlyush talked with other delegation members about conservation back home. In particular, they focused on how to balance the nation\u2019s development needs with protections for Siberian taimen: an IUCN red listed<\/a> species that international scientists are still struggling to understand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The topic of wild fish conservation felt like a thread linking East and West. Like Klamath salmon, Siberian taimen and native species like lenok and grayling are long-distance travelers. And also like Klamath salmon, they rely on a wide range of habitats<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hypothesize that Siberian taimen<\/a> make use of everything from headwaters and tributaries to large mainstem rivers, where they can hold in deep pools during iced-over winter months,\u201d Dr. Avlyush says. \u201cFor taimen, I see parallels with Klamath salmon. It\u2019s interesting for us to see how fish here used these systems before the dams, and how things changed for them when the dams went in.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The topic of wild fish conservation felt like a thread linking East and West. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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From a promontory above a bend in the now free-flowing Klamath River, visiting Mongolian scientists consider lessons learned here about hydropower development. In Mongolia, conversations are ongoing on how to balance energy needs with protections for imperiled Siberian taimen. (PC: WSC.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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A Salmon Stronghold Dammed, then Free<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wild Salmon Center\u2019s stronghold strategy<\/a> holds that where salmon rivers are still healthy and intact, we must protect them as they are, before we lose ground. But across the West, many salmon rivers lost ground to development long ago. Direct intervention\u2014habitat restoration and dam removal, for example\u2014become necessary tools for salmon recovery. Profoundly altered rivers like the Klamath offer a powerful case study.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Wild Salmon Center Mongolia Senior Manager Dr. Sauleygul Avylush at the headwaters of the Wood River, a tributary of Oregon’s Upper Klamath Lake. (PC: WSC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s been generations since Chinook salmon have made the journey all the way back to lake headwater rivers like the Wood and Sprague<\/strong>. And even with dam removal, the Klamath River remains altered. Above the 38-mile former reservoir chain, salmon still need to make it past the Keno and Link River dams at the lake outlet, and then across the vastness of Klamath Lake itself. But now, at least, that journey is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to think that salmon could make it back to places like the Wood River,\u201d Dr. Avylush says. \u201cBut it\u2019s also a good reminder for us in Mongolia to keep the needs of fish in mind from the very beginning when we consider our own development projects. That\u2019s just one lesson we can take back home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already, she says, conversations held during this knowledge exchange have catalyzed new plans for Wild Salmon Center and its partners in Mongolia, from habitat protections to fisheries management improvements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to think that salmon could make it back to places like the Wood River. It\u2019s also a good reminder for us in Mongolia to keep the needs of fish in mind from the very beginning. <\/p>\nWild Salmon Center Mongolia Senior Manager Dr. Saulyegul Avlyush<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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In Mongolia, Dr. Bud Mendsaikhan of the Mongolia Academy of Sciences (left) and Wild Salmon Center Science Director Dr. Matt Sloat with a Siberian taimen sampled for research. In October 2024, Dr. Mende traveled to the Klamath River Basin with our Mongolian delegation. (PC: WSC.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Proactive steps, and a growing body of conservation science, could help Mongolia improve the health outlook for salmonids and many other cherished aquatic species\u2014along with the full diversity of habitats these species require for long-term survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Klamath Basin, a source of much of this new, internationally-cited science<\/a>, there is growing consensus that to rebuild, salmon here must reclaim historic freshwater habitat above the dams<\/strong>. High on the list of potential game-changing salmon nurseries<\/a> are the cold, clean, climate-resilient tributaries of the upper Klamath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the banks of the Wood River, standing next to Dr. Avlyush, Wild Salmon Center Science Advisor Dr. Jonny Armstrong<\/a>\u2014an influential expert in salmonid behavior and landscape ecology\u2014pointed to a rich abundance of coarse gravel in the riverbed. One day soon, a Chinook hen could find her way here. And she might decide, like her ancestors did a century ago, that it\u2019s the perfect place to build a redd. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

History won\u2019t repeat itself in a river system as altered as the Klamath. But with time and healing, it\u2019s now possible that it could rhyme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To rebuild, salmon will need to find their way back to historic freshwater habitat like the cold, clean, climate-resilient tributaries of the upper Klamath. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Oregon State University ecology professor Dr. Jonathan Armstrong, center-front, on the banks of the Wood River with members of the Mongolia delegation including Dr. Avylush and Dr. Mendsaikhan. To reclaim historic habitat above Klamath Lake, adult salmon will need to migrate hundreds of miles. In Mongolia, native fish like grayling and lenok are also long-distance travelers. (PC: WSC.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Global Questions: Development, Dams, and Decisions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From the Iron Gate viewing platform, on the exchange\u2019s final day, the really big questions came into stark focus. Over the past two decades, as aging, fish-blocking dams come down across the American West, Mongolia is advancing the development of its own water infrastructure, including hydropower dams.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the Klamath dams illustrate, unforeseen and unintended consequences can accompany these river-altering infrastructure projects. In the Klamath, dam-building contributed to the near-extirpation of Klamath spring Chinook, a sharp drop in local fishing tourism, and water contamination from the reservoirs\u2019 frequent toxic algal blooms. Dams can also create new anxieties; as they age, downriver communities must live with the increasing possibility of catastrophic dam failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the Klamath dams illustrate, unforeseen and unintended consequences can accompany river-altering infrastructure projects. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Before-and-after images of Klamath dam removal. (PC: Shane Anderson\/Swiftwater Films.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Every development project has trade-offs, says Dr. Avlyush<\/strong>. She notes that time has brought improvements to hydropower, from more ecologically-informed project siting to better fish passage. And she hopes that Mongolian scientists and other experts can help expand the conversation to include the welfare of species like taimen, as well as Mongolia\u2019s nascent ecotourism industry. There are also questions to consider about livestock, which can be sensitive to the water quality issues of some dams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Mongolia, more than 90 percent of our rivers are free-flowing,\u201d Dr. Avlyush says. <\/strong>\u201cAs scientists, part of our role is to take best practices from around the world and share them with decision-makers, including those who are planning to expand hydropower development in Mongolia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn Mongolia, more than 90 percent of our rivers are free-flowing. As scientists, part of our role is to take best practices from around the world and share them with those who are planning to expand hydropower development.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center Mongolia Senior Manager Dr. Saulyegul Avlyush<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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To date, most of Mongolia’s rivers remain free-flowing. \u201cAs scientists, part of our role is to take best practices from around the world and share them with decision-makers, including those who are planning to expand hydropower development in Mongolia,\u201d says Wild Salmon Center’s Dr. Saulyegul Avylush. (PC: Mike Greener.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Karuk Fisheries Manager Toz Soto (upper right) shares sonar camera imagery<\/a> of what appears to be the first Chinook salmon making its way up past the former Iron Gate dam site (roughly below the platform where Soto and the Mongolian scientists are standing). (PC: WSC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Local communities, she says, must also be part of these decisions. In Mongolia, taimen are revered by many<\/a>. Across the Pacific, for Tribal communities including the Karuk, the century-long decline of salmon\u2014and Chinook salmon in particular\u2014 has been devastating, bringing anxiety, health risks, and heartbreak<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For communities whose core identities center on wild fish and rivers, the impacts of long-ago decisions can last for generations<\/strong>. But that day on the Klamath, Toz Soto shared some exciting news. As the morning sun warmed the platform, members of the Mongolian delegation clustered around Soto to watch a stunning few seconds of video on his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonar monitoring equipment had just caught images of a Chinook salmon swimming above the Iron Gate Dam site\u2014possibly the first to do so in more than eight decades. (Soon after, salmon were confirmed migrating above all four dam sites, and even spawning in Oregon\u2019s Spencer Creek<\/a>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a breath of hope for this once mighty salmon river\u2014one that, Soto shared, had felt like it might never come<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sonar caught images of a Chinook salmon swimming above the Iron Gate Dam site\u2014possibly the first to do so in more than eight decades.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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