Iron_Gate_Reservoir
Iron Gate Dam (California)
Dam in Siskiyou County, California
Iron Gate Dam is an earthfill hydroelectric dam on the Klamath River in northern California, outside Hornbrook, California, that opened in 1964. The dam blocks the Klamath River to create the Iron Gate Lake Reservoir. It is the lowermost of a series of power dams on the river, the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project, operated by PacifiCorp. It also poses the first barrier to migrating salmon in the Klamath. The Iron Gate Fish Hatchery was placed just after the dam, hatching salmon and steelhead that are released back into the river.[1]
A movement to Un-Dam the Klamath has been ongoing for 20 years to remove the dams.[2][3] The Iron Gate Dam (National ID CN 001223),[4] along with the John C. Boyle Dam, are two of four on the Klamath River that would be removed under the Klamath Economic Restoration Act.[5] As of February 2016, the states of Oregon and California, the dam owners, federal regulators, and other parties reached an agreement to remove all four dams by the year 2020, pending approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.[6] On February 25, 2022, the FERC released its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the dam's removal.
The Iron Gate Dam is expected to be removed in 2024.[7] On January 11, 2024, the bypass tunnel at the dam was opened to drain the reservoir, in anticipation of the dam's removal.[8]