Klamath River

The official beginning of the Klamath River is at Lake Ewauna, a small natural lake near Klamath Falls, Oregon. The primary inflow of Lake Ewauna is the short Link River, which connects it to Upper Klamath Lake. Upper Klamath, in turn, is fed by the Williamson River (originating in the Winema National Forest) and Wood River (originating in Crater Lake National Park). An artificial channel diverts water from the Lost River, which normally flows into Tule Lake, into the Klamath during periods of high runoff. Below Keno Dam (which controls the level of the upstream Klamath River and Lake Ewauna), the river flows swiftly through the narrow Klamath River Canyon, which cuts through volcanic rock of the southern Cascade Range. Entering Siskiyou County, California, it passes the former sites of four hydroelectric dams operated by PacifiCorp until their demolition in 2024. After passing under Interstate 5, the Klamath receives the Shasta River from the left then flows west into the Siskiyou Mountains (a sub-range of the Klamath Mountains), entering the Klamath National Forest. Downstream of the Trinity River, the Klamath turns sharply northwest. in an area shared by the Yurok Reservation and Redwood National and State Parks, about south of Crescent City. ==Watershed==

The Klamath River watershed, known as the Klamath Basin, drains parts of Klamath, Lake and Jackson Counties in Oregon and Siskiyou, Modoc, Trinity, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties in California. About 37 percent of the basin is in Oregon and 63 percent is in California. More than half of the Klamath Basin is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, on the Fremont, Winema, and Rogue River National Forests in Oregon and the Modoc, Klamath, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests in California. Elevations range from in the valleys to in the Cascades. Upper and Lower Klamath Lakes and Tule Lake were once part of of connected wetlands, over three-quarters of which have been drained for agriculture. The Lost River basin, situated east and south of Klamath Falls, was historically a closed basin terminating at Tule Lake. During high water events, the Klamath River overflowed into Lost River Slough near Klamath Falls and flow into Tule Lake. – have been artificially altered to discharge floodwaters into the Klamath River via diversion dams and drainage facilities. The Lower Klamath Basin, consisting mostly of mountains and coniferous forest, is located almost entirely in California except for the headwaters of a few tributaries that flow south from Oregon. The Klamath Mountains include numerous sub-ranges, with the Siskiyou Mountains to the north and west of the river, and the Marble Mountains and Salmon Mountains to the east and south. About 88 percent of the Klamath River's total flow originates in the Lower Basin, even though it only accounts for 62 percent of the land area. The Trinity River is the largest sub-basin of the Lower Klamath; the main stem originates in the Trinity Alps west of Redding, while the South Fork Trinity River's origin at North Yolla Bolly Mountain is the southernmost point in the entire Klamath Basin. South Fork Mountain defines much of the boundary between the Klamath Mountains and the Northern Coast Ranges. Most of the Lower Klamath Basin is remote and rugged, with limited access routes. In California, SR 96 provides access to the entire stretch of the middle Klamath River from Hornbrook to the Trinity River, while SR 299 runs along the Trinity River between Willow Creek and Junction City. The Shasta River flows northwest through the valley from Mount Shasta, the highest point in the Klamath River basin at . Yreka and Montague are located within Shasta Valley. To the west is the smaller Scott Valley, which includes the towns of Fort Jones, Etna, Greenview and Callahan. Hayfork Valley and the community of Hayfork are located in Trinity County, while Hoopa Valley and the surrounding Hoopa Reservation are on the Trinity River in Humboldt County. Tributaries and sub-basins is a major tributary of the lower Klamath River. The below table lists major sub-basins of the Klamath River system. ==Flooding==

The lower and middle sections of the Klamath River are vulnerable to flooding, and major floods have occurred in years where major flooding has taken place in Northern California, particularly in the wake of Pineapple Express storms that bring large amounts of warm rain to Northern California. Fort Ter-Waw, located at what is now the town of Klamath Glen, was destroyed by the flood in December 1861 and abandoned on June 10, 1862. Other significant floods on the Klamath River have occurred in 1926–1927, 1955, 1964, 1997, and 2005, in several cases changing the course of the river. The Christmas flood of 1964 was particularly devastating. The Klamath River reached flows of , with high water reaching , inundating the towns of Klamath and Klamath Glen under as much as of water, and destroying most of the Highway 101 bridge crossing the river. The highway bridge was rebuilt in a different location, though entrances to the old bridge still stand. The mouth of the Klamath and nearby sections of the river are also susceptible to oceanic tsunami surges, and fatalities have occurred there during the 1964 Alaskan and 2011 Japanese tsunamis. ==Geology==

The Upper Klamath Basin, defined by the drainage area of the Klamath River above Iron Gate Dam, is a unique transitional area between the Cascade Range to the west and the Basin and Range Province of the northern Great Basin to the southeast. This region extends from the southern Lower Klamath Lake area into the Lost River and Upper Klamath Lake basins. Crustal stretching and block faulting created a topography with characteristics similar to both regions. Almost the entire basin is a graben region, bearing basin and range characteristics, formed by uplifting and subsidence along several north–south faults. Pre-Quaternary, igneous and sedimentary rocks compose the Yonna Formation, which crosses much of the region and rises above the surface in large outcroppings of solid rock in many of the ridges. Underlying rocks are generally younger from east to west. The many ridges crossing the upper Klamath Basin divide it into valleys with up to of vertical relief, and drainage patterns generally follow the topography. An extensive geothermal system occurs deep underground within the upper basin, creating hot springs and artesian springs, but is not well understood. Further south, in the Shasta River area in Siskiyou County, much of the underlying rock is composed of lava flows issuing from the Mount Shasta volcanic region. The same age pattern is true in the Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains that cover the western half of the Klamath River watershed. As the North American Plate moved slowly southwestward over the past 10 million years, successive oceanic terranes dating from the Cambrian to the late Jurassic were added to the bulk of the North American continent. There are four distinct terranes from west to east. While the coastal mountains date to less than 3 million years ago, the farther inland High Cascades are as old as 7.5 million years. Granite batholiths, overlying sedimentary rock, and volcanic rock were crumpled into the massif of southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. The Klamath River is a superimposed stream. That is, the river cut its way through rising topography and maintained a southwesterly course to the Pacific Ocean, instead of flowing to the south which would be the natural drainage path from the Upper Klamath Basin today. ==Indigenous peoples==

from near Klamath Falls. This area was once on the border of Klamath and Modoc territory. Human habitation on the Klamath dates to at least 7,000 years ago. Many of the Native American groups along the river depended on the huge runs of Pacific salmon, the third largest on the Pacific coast of what is now the United States. These groups included the Shasta along the middle and upper parts of the river, the Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk along the canyons of the lower river, and the Modoc, Klamath and Yahooskin in the desert valleys of the upper basin. Along with the Hupa and Karuk, the lower to mid-upper Tribes caught salmon from the river with weirs, basket traps and harpoons. Ishi Pishi Falls, a set of rapids on the Klamath River near the confluence with the Salmon River, has been a traditional fishing ground of the Karuk people. Tribes of the upper basin were primarily hunter-gatherers, and did not depend on salmon as much as downstream tribes. The Klamath River's name was recorded by Europeans in the 19th century derived from the word klamet or the Klamath Tribe. Prior to European contact, the river was called by many different names, including Ishkêesh and Koke. The Klamath Tribe's name came from the Upper Chinookan word /ɬámaɬ/, literally "they of the river". The tribes along the Klamath River, in their hunting, fishing, and landscape stewardship practices, employed traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Traditional ecological knowledge describes the type of natural science information that indigenous people have gathered about the places they live in over the course of hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It encompasses knowledge, beliefs, and practices that native people have accumulated through their immersive stewardship of the natural world. On the Klamath River, tribes have historically used traditional ecological knowledge to care for and manage their landscape, especially the use of controlled burning. The Klamath tribal land stewardship practice of cultural burning was first disrupted with the beginning of Spanish colonization in California in the 1780s. Spanish colonization led to diseases, genocide, forced removal of indigenous people, relocation to missions, and laws banning burning in the region. Many more members of the Klamath tribes were displaced or killed in the destruction of villages and a series of wars over territory, among other threats. Yurok The Yurok people think of the Klamath river as "the Bloodline: the life blood of the people" relying on it for foods like salmon (ney-ouy), sturgeon (Kaa-ka), candlefish (kwor-ror), and seaweed (chey-gel’). These foods, specifically fish and specifically from the Klamath river are of utmost important to the culture and religion of the Yurok tribe. Located along the river are various villages important to specific ceremonial practices of the Yurok, like the Jump Dance or the annual Salmon ceremony. Yurok culture and religion emphasizes direct connection and communication with the Klamath river. Yurok cosmologies and oral histories emphasize the importance of the Klamath river and its salmon as a gift from the creator to provide for the Yurok people. Like the Karuk, the Yurok language references the Klamath river in their descriptions of direction. Like with other Klamath Basin Tribes, an annual salmon ceremony takes place to honor and celebrate the salmon, which the Yurok people see as ancestors. The Yurok tribe’s ceremonies emphasize the Klamath River, and many traditional practices require close proximity to the river and include some type of bathing in or ingesting of the water. Recreational games are played on constructed "courts" along the river banks. the Karuk tribe has adopted the phrase to refer to their annual ceremony that they view as essential to maintaining the reciprocal and stewarding relationship they have with the environment. The ceremony is meant to renew and sustain this relationship. Relationship to US Forest Service In 1905, the United States Forest Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture headed by Gifford Pinchot – a prominent conservationist and staunch opponent of burning – began to manage what was traditionally Klamath lands. The Forest Service oversaw extensive logging, mining, and dam construction, which degraded much of the environment, particularly salmon stocks and redwood forests. In 1947, the lower section of Karuk Aboriginal Territory was made part of the Six Rivers National Forest. Indigenous people were not allowed to steward their traditional territories because the Forest Service believed they would further deplete the damaged ecosystems. This led to a legal battle in 1970 over whether Klamath tribes could fish in these territories. Not until the late 1990s and early 2000s did the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management start collaborating with tribal peoples in the Offield Mountain Ceremonial Burning project and Tribal Forest Protection Act to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and stewardship practices into land management. 2025 river descent In the summer of 2025, a group of teenage members of the local indigenous people made a 30 day, journey, the first canoe descent of the full river in over 100 years. Supported by the international NGO Rios to Rivers, they trained for about two years in whitewater canoeing before putting in at the headwaters. The last three days they were accompanied by representatives from indigenous people around the world who are fighting for the life and freedom of their own rivers from New Zealand, to Chile and China, before reaching the Pacific ocean in a healing ceremony. ==Exploration and settlement==

Fur trade In the late 1820s, fur trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company traveling south from Fort Vancouver reached the Klamath River basin. The first party to see the Klamath River was led by Alexander McLeod in the winter of 1826–27. In 1828, the Jedediah Smith fur trapping expedition was helped across the Trinity River by the Yurok and camped on the east side of the Trinity River. His clerk, Harrison G. Rogers, wrote, "Mr. Smith purchases all the beaver furs he can from them," suggesting that beaver were then plentiful on the Trinity. Joseph Grinnell, in Fur-bearing Mammals of California, noted that beaver had been present on other Klamath River tributaries such as the Scott River and Shasta River, and further cited a Fish and Game report of beaver from 1915–1917 on High Prairie Creek at the mouth of the Klamath River near Requa, California. Fur trappers eventually moved southwest into the Sacramento Valley and extended the Siskiyou Trail, an early path between the Oregon Territory and San Francisco Bay. Within a matter of years, the plentiful beaver in the Klamath Basin had been mostly wiped out. Beaver dams had previously been an important factor in stream habitat in the Klamath River watershed, helping to moderate the power of floods and creating extensive wetlands. The loss of the beaver dams resulted in detrimental consequences for watercourses in the basin, exacerbating the power of winter floods, and causing severe erosion. Despite the environmental implications, extensive and fertile meadows left behind by the draining of beaver ponds attracted many settlers to the region later on. Gold rush The 1850s saw discoveries of rich placer and lode gold deposits along the predominantly Shasta areas of the Klamath, Trinity, Shasta and other rivers in northwestern California. The gold is thought to have originated from volcanic activity in the Klamath Mountains. Miners searching for gold in the Klamath Mountains and Trinity Alps in the aftermath of the California Gold Rush first discovered gold along Salmon Creek in the spring of 1850, and additional deposits were found on the main stem by July. Gold was also discovered in great quantities in Shasta lands at French Gulch and Yreka. The Gold Rush was the first large incursion into the Klamath River region, and conflict soon broke out between tribes and gold seekers. As miners established claims along the river, they forced indigenous peoples from their settlements and fishing grounds; many natives were killed, while others died of introduced diseases. Several place names in the Klamath Basin originate from this era, including that of the Scott River, which is named for pioneer John Walter Scott. Gold deposits are still present in the Klamath River watershed even though it was mined far past the end of the gold rush. After the establishment of California in 1850, the state government signed treaties with the Karuk establishing aboriginal territories, but the treaties were never ratified in the senate and so the Karuk never got their own reservation land. In 1864, the Native Americans of the Klamath Basin and surrounding area signed a treaty that had them cede of land to the United States and forced them to move to the newly created Klamath Indian Reservation. This reservation clumped the Yurok, Karuk, and Hoopa tribes into one small area. These reservation lands were created as a result of wars between American settlers and indigenous peoples including the Red Cap War in 1855. The US government wanted to stop these violent clashes and relegate the indigenous people to limited territory where they could be sovereign. The reservation policy was reversed in 1887 with the Dawes Act which designated allotments to individuals of indigenous descent who could stake claim. However into the 1920s many of these individual land owners sold away their allotments to timber companies as they could not afford the taxes. Eventually, the tribes began to profit from the sale of timber produced on the reservation, although unfairly distributed because of the lack of consideration of the three differing tribes. In 1954, however, Congress removed their federal recognition and the reservation was no longer economically successful. The tribes won back federal recognition in the 1970s, but by then poverty was widespread among tribal members. Additionally more indigenous land was lost in the 1970s after the completion of the construction of a section of highway 96 which ran through traditional Karuk territory and paved over cemeteries, villages, spiritual sites and allotments. In the early 1910s and 1920s, logging was a growing industry on the west side of the upper Klamath River valley, especially around Upper Klamath Lake. The Great Northern Railway and Southern Pacific Railroad built a joint-use line running along the eastern shore of the lake, delivering logs from the north side to a sawmill downstream from the outlet of the lake. Many of the seasonal marshlands surrounding the lake and rivers were diked in this period to host lumber operations. In 1919, the first Link River Dam, a timber crib dam, was constructed at the outlet of Upper Klamath Lake, raising it by about . Steamboats continued mail, passenger and freight operations on Upper Klamath Lake until about 1928, in a period when many of the lumber companies shut down due to drought. ==Economic uses and water management==

Irrigation About of farmland are irrigated in the Upper Klamath Basin, divided between the federal Klamath Irrigation Project located south of Upper Klamath Lake, and various local and private irrigation districts, mostly located north of the lake. In 1905, the Reclamation Service (today's U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) was authorized to construct the Klamath Irrigation Project, to drain and reclaim for agriculture over of former lake beds and wetlands. Link River Dam (originally built as part of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project in 1921) controls the level of Upper Klamath Lake, creating the project's main storage reservoir. The dam did not actually raise the water level, but was built within an artificial cut made in the lake's outlet, enabling water to be released consistently from deeper levels. Prior to the cut, south winds sometimes pushed water out of the lake's shallow outlet, causing the Link River to run dry – a phenomenon reflected in the stream's native Klamath name, Yulalona, "back and forth". The project includes two other storage facilities at Clear Lake Dam on the Lost River and Gerber Dam on Miller Creek (a tributary of Lost River). Parts of Lower Klamath and Tule Lakes are designated as sumps, reserved for flood control and drainage. The main crops grown on the Klamath Irrigation Project are grain, alfalfa, onions, potatoes and grass seed, as well as irrigated pasture for cattle. This has had significant consequences for water management in the Upper Klamath Basin, as the Klamath Tribes were guaranteed water for hunting and fishery purposes in the 1864 treaty establishing their reservation. Even though the Klamath were forced to surrender treaty lands in the mid-20th century, the tribes' water rights were upheld in a 1983 court decision (United States vs. Adair), and Oregon formally quantified their share in 2012. During a severe drought in 2001, federal water deliveries to farmers were temporarily halted to satisfy Endangered Species Act requirements and tribal fisheries. From 1987 to 2000, Trinity River diversions averaged , as greater amounts of water were released to the Trinity River for fisheries restoration. An annual average of are diverted from the Klamath Basin to the Rogue River Valley. It would have flooded most Yurok and Hupa lands along the river, but the government mostly ignored objections raised by the tribes. However, the dam was opposed by one of its chief beneficiaries – the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, representing Los Angeles and numerous other cities – who believed that the Klamath project would be used to pressure it into giving up its share of the Colorado River. As such, the project was scrapped due to lack of political support. In the 1960s, the California Department of Water Resources also looked to the Klamath River as a supply for the State Water Project. Its own North Coastal Area Investigation in 1964 contemplated damming the Klamath, Trinity, Eel, Van Duzen and Mad Rivers to direct – comparable to the entire flow of the Colorado River – to agricultural and urban areas in central and southern California. About half of this would come from the Klamath River alone. As the environmental movement strengthened in the late 1960s, public pressure mounted to protect California's remaining undammed rivers. In 1972, the state designated the Klamath River downstream of Iron Gate Dam as a wild and scenic river, and in 1981 it was incorporated into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, making it off-limits to new dams. Hydroelectricity power house The oldest hydroelectric plant in the Klamath Basin is the Fall Creek power plant, built in 1903 by the Siskiyou Electric Power Company. This dammed a small tributary of the Klamath River to provide power for Yreka and Dunsmuir, California. In 1911, the California-Oregon Power Company (Copco) acquired Siskiyou Electric and the Fall Creek plant. In 1917, Copco entered a partnership with the Reclamation Service to construct and operate the Link River Dam. In 1918, the Copco #1 Dam was constructed in Ward's Canyon, a steep and narrow stretch of the Klamath River just south of where it enters California. Copco #2 Dam was constructed just downstream in 1925. It diverted water into a penstock, bypassing and dewatering of the river. In 1920, Copco acquired another private hydroelectric plant at Keno, and in 1931 it built the Needle Dam there to regulate outflows from Link River Dam. Needle Dam was replaced by the modern Keno Dam after damage from flooding in the winter of 1964–65. J.C. Boyle Dam, located between Keno and Copco #1 in Oregon, was completed in 1958. Its penstock and power plant bypassed and dewatered another of the river. Prior to Iron Gate's construction, discharge from the Copco dams fluctuated greatly due to peaking power operation, creating hazardous conditions for fishermen and other people using the river. representing about 1.5 percent of PacifiCorp's total energy portfolio. Following the dam removal, PacifiCorp would continue to operate the Fall Creek power plant, ==Ecology==

Wildlife and plants During the 19th century, the Upper Klamath Basin's abundance of wetlands and wildlife led explorers to call it a "western Everglades". The five units of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex provide feeding and resting grounds for 3 to 5 million ducks, geese and other waterfowl each year. due to its location adjacent to Cascades, Sierra Nevada and Coast Range ecoregions. Chinook alone numbered up to 800,000, split between fall and spring runs. Before damming, Chinook and steelhead once spawned as far upstream as the Williamson and Sprague Rivers that flow into Upper Klamath Lake. Coho and the anadromous Pacific lamprey spawned nearly as far upstream as Keno, where a naturally occurring constriction and falls (now the site of Keno Dam) prevented further progress. In California, commercial and tribal fishing in the Klamath were banned in 1934 as salmon runs declined. In 1972, following the controversial arrest of a Yurok subsistence fisherman, the Supreme Court ruled in Mattz v. Arnptt that the state did not have jurisdiction over tribal fisheries, as Indian reservations were created by federal executive order. Prior to its 2024 removal, Iron Gate Dam was the lowermost dam on the Klamath River and effectively cut off migration and spawning habitat of 675 to 970 km of spawning and rearing habitat in the Upper Klamath Basin. Environmental issues Gold mining, dam construction, commercial fishing, logging and other human activities heavily damaged anadromous fish runs in the 19th and 20th centuries. The construction of Copco No. 1 Dam in 1918 blocked fish migration to more than of streams in the Upper Klamath Basin. The Trinity River Restoration Program was established in 2000, solidifying plans for permanently increased flows. With restoration efforts, the fall Chinook run recovered to 150,000 per year by the 2010s, with the Klamath, Trinity, Salmon, Scott and Shasta rivers all hosting spawning populations. Spring-run Chinook have continued to decline, averaging less than 2,000 per year in the early 21st century, and are considered at risk of extirpation. The only remaining spawning populations are in the Salmon and South Fork Trinity Rivers. Hybridization with hatchery fish has been a major concern for wild spring-run Chinook in the 21st century. In 2021, the state of California recognized Klamath spring-run Chinook as endangered. Klamath River coho, which spawn only in the fall, have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1997. After the controversial 2001 Klamath Irrigation Project water shut-off, Vice President Dick Cheney intervened to ensure water supply to farmers. In 2002, the government made water deliveries on the project despite the drought continuing. The lower Klamath River experienced a mass die-off of at least 34,000 adult Chinook salmon in September 2002, which was attributed to atypically low flows that delayed salmon migration and high water temperatures that allowed massive spread of ich and columnaris among the waiting fish. The House Natural Resources Committee investigated Vice President Cheney for having released extra water to farmers for political gain. In 2006, a federal judge ordered the Klamath Irrigation Project to maintain higher river releases to protect fisheries. During dry seasons, the lower Klamath River also experiences elevated phosphorus and nitrogen levels from irrigation run-off, while toxic algae blooms result in eutrophication. These issues were exacerbated by the river's dams, which by slowing flows and exposing more water to solar heating created ideal conditions for algae bloom formation. FERC ruled that as part of the relicensing, PacifiCorp must install fish ladders on the dams. The Link River and Keno Dams, which have fish ladders, would remain. In 2013, the U.S. Department of the Interior released its final environmental impact statement on the plan. The Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement was enacted in 2016, outlining the regulatory procedures needed to remove the dams, increase flows for fisheries, maintain irrigation water and power supply, reintroduce salmon to the Upper Klamath Basin, restore habitat impacted by the dams, and provide economic assistance to counties, tribes and residents impacted by dam removal. In 2020, the states of California and Oregon, the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, PacifiCorp, and the newly created Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) signed a final Memorandum of Agreement to implement the project. This formally requested the federal government to transfer the dams' licenses to KRRC, The first dam to be removed was Copco No. 2 in October 2023. The reservoirs behind Iron Gate, Copco No. 1 and J.C. Boyle dams were drained in January–March 2024, and the dams themselves were demolished by August 2024. This represents the largest dam removal project conducted in the US to date. During and immediately after the removal process, the river experienced a temporary drop in water quality and increase in turbidity as accumulated sediments behind the dams were flushed out. In March 2024, a large die-off of hatchery Chinook salmon occurred when they were released upstream of Iron Gate Dam. The fish are believed to have succumbed to gas bubble disease when they passed through the temporary diversion tunnel used to drain Iron Gate reservoir; water flowing through the tunnel had a much greater level of turbulence than expected. Restoration work was already ongoing prior to and during dam removal, and is planned to continue for several years afterward. Restoration is being conducted by Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) under the direction of KRRC. This involves revegetating of newly exposed land in drained reservoirs, stabilizing sediment to prevent erosion, restoring the river's main channel as well as of tributaries On October 17, 2024, the first fall-run Chinook salmon was observed in the Upper Klamath Basin in Oregon. In 2025, the numbers of fish returning to the Upper Klamath Basin jumped, with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reporting salmon reoccupying nearly every corner of their historical habitat. For the first time in over 100 years, tagged Chinook were spotted at the confluence of the Sprague River and Williamson River, above Upper Klamath Lake. ==Recreation==

Whitewater rafting and kayaking are popular recreational activities along the upper Klamath River, and also along the lower Klamath River downstream of the town of Happy Camp. There are long stretches—over in one instance—of Class I–II whitewater rapids, while there are some Class III–IV rapids in some of the narrower stretches. After the dam removal, a number of new rapids have become available. Beyond Weitchpec, the river slows down into a wider, deeper channel. About of the river is designated Wild, and Recreational. Sport fishing is also popular on the Klamath River, with steelhead trout being the most popular, though Chinook salmon are also highly sought after when low salmon returns do not prevent fishing. A fly fishing guide said that the Klamath was one of the most productive steelhead rivers on the West Coast of the United States. Recreational gold mining is popular along the Klamath and some of its tributaries, including the Salmon and the Trinity. Although simple methods such as panning are still used, some methods use suction pumps—a practice involving turning over deposits of sediment and spreading them in order to find gold. Debates over the practice, which opponents contend damage water quality (mercury) and fish habitat, continue. Since at least 2016, suction dredge mining is banned in California. == See also ==