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Healthy rivers rely on connection.

California’s rivers hold thousands of miles of wild fish habitat that are out of reach. We’re opening them back up. For millions of years, California’s salmon, steelhead, and trout have made incredible journeys between the ocean and river headwaters. CalTrout works across the state to strategically identify and advance removal or redesign of barriers in key watersheds, so fish can migrate and rivers can flow freely.

our connectivity program
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Photo: Pusher, Inc.

Removing Dams and Barriers

Much of the infrastructure built in California’s rivers is now aging, obsolete, and at times unsafe.

Over the past century, we built dams, roads, and other infrastructure that interrupt the journey of salmon, steelhead, and trout.

California’s  rivers contain thousands of aging structures, many of which no longer serve their original purposes. The result is fragmented habitat, altered flow regimes, impounded sediments, impaired water quality, and native species pushed toward extinction.

Aerial view of a concrete dam and spillway holding back a river in a rugged, rocky canyon

The state of California’s barriers

The numbers speak for themselves. We’ve accomplished a lot, but there’s still so much work left to do.

Across the state, thousands of aging dams, culverts, and undersized crossings block fish passage, and harm resources our wildlife and communities depend on.

1,400

Large dams in California and thousands of smaller ones

72 yrs

Average age of a California dam

25%

Of California’s dams are more than 93 years old

1,797

Dams removed across California since 1912

CalTrout’s Connectivity Program

Facilitating California’s Largest Dam Removal Efforts

California’s dams are aging, and many are in poor condition. Some have sediment-filled reservoirs, defunct hydropower facilities, or pose safety risks. Removing these dams can restore rivers, protect downstream communities, improve water quality, sustain wild fish, and support recreation and local economies.

CalTrout is advancing the removal of California’s largest, least useful dams. The removal of dams is time consuming, expensive, and can be politically charged. Through our Connectivity Program, our team of experts build coalitions and work in partnership to evaluate, plan, and advance complex dam removal projects in priority watersheds across the state.

Copco 2 Dam on the Klamath River, with water flowing through its lower outlet
Photo: Klamath Dam Copco 2 by Thomas O’Keefe

Meet the Connectivity Program Team

  • Walter “Redgie” Collins, Esq.

    Walter “Redgie” Collins, Esq.

    Vice President of Legal and Government Affairs

  • Charlie Schneider

    Charlie Schneider

    Senior Project Manager

  • Ren Brownell

    Ren Brownell

    Senior Project Manager

Our Priority Watersheds for Dam Removal

California’s Top 5 Dams Out

Through our Dams Out Report, CalTrout identified the state’s highest-priority dam removal opportunities— large projects with the greatest potential to restore fish passage, improve river health, and reconnect communities with healthy waterways. Since then, the successful removal of the four lower Klamath River dams has demonstrated what’s possible. Today, five priority watersheds are California’s next major river restoration projects.

Complete · 2024 | All four dams removed, actively monitoring

Klamath River Dams

See The Project
Photo: Pusher, Inc.
A dam blocks a river and behind it is a reservoir

Active

Eel River Dams

See The Project
Photo: Pusher, Inc.

Active

Matilija Dam (Ventura River)

See The Project
Photo: Pusher, Inc.

Active

Rindge Dam (Malibu Creek)

See The Project
Photo: Pusher, Inc.
An aerial view of a dam with a body of water behind it

Active

Searsville Dam (San Francisquito Creek)

See The Project
Photo: Pusher, Inc.

Active

Battle Creek Dams

See The Project
Photo: Pusher, Inc.
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Salmon swimming through churning, foamy river water
Photo: Jane Dysert

More than just dams

California’s fish face a far more pervasive challenge than any single type of structure.

When we think about barriers to fish passage, dams are an obvious culprit. These are structures blocking rivers and disconnecting ecosystems that garner the most attention.

However, the roads we drive to work, the rail lines that move goods across the state, the bridges that connect our communities, the levees we’ve constructed to protect our neighborhoods from floods — much of this was built in an era when fish and wildlife weren’t a part of the equation.

The world we live in today is a result of this era: landscapes littered  with thousands of structures that quietly fragment habitat. To a salmon or steelhead trying to reach their spawning grounds, each structure is a threat to survival.

Today, we have the technology and knowledge to build infrastructure that works for both fish and people.

“By strategically pursuing opportunities for dam removal where economic, social, and environmental interests strongly align, CalTrout offers a model for restoring the health of the state’s rivers for the benefit of fish and people.”

Ted Grantham, Professor of Cooperative Extension, UC Berkeley and former CalTrout/PPIC Fellow

Our work in action | Klamath River · Northern California

The historic removal of the Klamath River dams is now complete.

Why It Matters

A monumental achievement

The Problem

Four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River blocked salmon and steelhead migration for over a century, and were among the dams identified on CalTrout’s Dams Out report.

CalTrout’s Role

With the dams now removed, our work is still far from done. CalTrout leads a robust scientific monitoring program to better understand dam removal and its impacts on the fish.

The Result

The Klamath dam removal is the first project of those identified in our Dams Out Report to be completed. And the results from the Klamath salmon have surpassed even the wildest of expectations, with over 13,000 salmon tracked returning just over a year after dam removal.

GOOD FOR FISH AND GOOD FOR PEOPLE

Reopening rivers is not just about the fish. It’s about the communities around them.

It’s about you and it’s about us. The same free-flowing conditions that help fish thrive also make life better for people: cooler, cleaner water and reduced toxic algae blooms mean healthier waterways for drinking, swimming, and fishing alike. For many river communities, healthy fisheries are a lifeline: supporting local economies, feeding families, and sustaining cultural traditions that have depended on abundant fish for generations. And, taking down deteriorating dams lowers the risk of failure and flooding, making downstream communities safer — proving that what’s good for fish is often good for people too.

There’s a reason the history of civilization can be traced through the history of rivers. Rivers must be connected to ensure reliable water supply, healthy fisheries, and resilient ecosystems. We are not anti-infrastructure. We are pro-smart, safe, and cost effective infrastructure.

01

Public Safety

The removal of aging and deteriorating dams creates safer conditions for downstream communities. Since 1850, there have been 1,645 dam failures in the United States. Combined, those failures have resulted in 3,495 lives lost.

02

Watershed Health

Dams alter river flows, trap sediment, and impair water quality. The same free-flowing conditions that help fish thrive also make life better for people: cooler, cleaner water creates healthier water waters for drinking, swimming, fishing, and other recreation.

03

Cultural Importance

Many people — including California Indigenous peoples — have strong connections to water and the surrounding land. Dams harm both the water and land, disrupting these relationships.

04

Economic Benefits

Removing aging dams isn’t just good for rivers — it’s good for local economies. A single wild salmon can be worth more than a barrel of oil, and California’s salmon fisheries generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year in local jobs, recreation spending, and economic activity up and down the coast. Deteriorating dams are also expensive to maintain — on the Klamath, keeping the dams running and retrofitting them to meet modern standards would have cost customers more than twice what removal did, all for less and less power. Removing dams that no longer pay for themselves means the savings can show up right where people feel them most: in electric and water bills.

Our work in action

Where we’re reopening rivers right now

From dams to culverts to bridges to highways, our barrier-removal portfolio spans the state.

FISH AFFECTED

The fish that depend on California’s rivers.

Rushing river flows through greenery

Join The Work

Help keep California’s rivers cold, clean, and connected.

Your support helps restore habitat, remove barriers, and protect the waters native fish and communities depend on.

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Photo: Pusher, Inc.

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