• Grateful for Signs of Recovery

    Basking in the glow of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the incredible strides made this year toward recovery of anadromous fisheries in the north state. Heightened returns of adult Chinook spawners to Battle Creek, to the Scott River, and to Klamath tributaries previously blocked by dams confirm that diligent efforts to improve fish passage and…

  • Measuring Flow to Support New Interim Flow Requirements in the Shasta River

    For decades, stream flows in the Shasta River dropped to a fraction of historical levels every summer, no matter how wet the water year type. Now, a new law, AB 263, which took effect in September 2025, requires that sufficient quantities of water remain instream. This ensures that coho salmon will be less likely to…

  • Hydropower Reform: CSPA Goes to Washington, D.C.

    The Hydropower Reform Coalition (HRC) has been advocating since the early 1990s for improved conditions in waters affected by hydroelectric projects. HRC advocacy has increased streamflows and made flow information public, achieved new and improved river access, and supported local communities where hydropower dams and other components of infrastructure are located. The California Sportfishing Protection…

  • Regulating water use in Klamath tributaries

    Now that four dams previously blocking anadromous fish migration on the Klamath River are down, state and local agencies are negotiating the next stage of river restoration. They are acting to regulate the beneficial uses of water in overallocated Klamath River tributaries as equitably as possible. The Shasta River historically produced more salmon per unit…

  • Celebrating the First Descent of the Undammed Klamath River

    On July 11, 2025, after a month floating the free-flowing Klamath River 310 miles, a group of indigenous youth arrived at the river’s mouth. Theirs was the first expedition to boat the river from source to sea since the removal of the fourth dam on the Klamath River in September 2024. The boaters included young…