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Hello and welcome to The Excerpt.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Wednesday, December 4th, 2024, and this is a special episode of The Exert.

This is a special episode of The Exert. This year marked the end of a 20-year struggle to remove four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River

that runs along the California-Oregon state line.

The first of the four dams was built in the 1910s.

Their construction ultimately resulted in a river basin high in phosphorus and toxic algae,

which flowed downriver, killing off fish such as salmon and steelhead,

while creating river water that was unsafe for the tribes who called the Klamath River home.

These hydroelectric dams also impeded fish migration for nearly a century.

Now, all four dams have been taken down.

So what happens next?

Here to discuss the Klamath River and the indigenous tribes working to reclaim their way of life

is Arizona Republic Indigenous Affairs reporter Deborah

Utasia Kroll. Thanks for joining me, Deb. Well, thanks for having me on, Dana.

Before we discuss the hydroelectric dams, can you give me a brief history of the Klamath River,

specifically when it was thriving and its significance to the tribes who live

alongside it. The Klamath River, including the Klamath River Basin, is a region about the size of

West Virginia, 263 miles from headwater down to the mouth on the California coast. The significance to the tribes that live

along that river is that it was basically at the center of their lifeway. They depended on the river

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