Above, the fish passage-blocking Takelma Creek Dam prior to removal. Scroll below to see the dam site today. |
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Dear Friend, A year has passed since WaterWatch completed a priority fish barrier removal project on Takelma Creek in the Illinois River sub-basin of the Rogue, and positive responses continue to pour in from both the local salmon population as well the region's scientific community. The multi-faceted Takelma project opened access to 3.5 miles of blocked spawning and rearing habitat by removing a 13-foot-high, 70-foot-wide concrete diversion dam without a fish ladder, replacing the dam's water diversion with a screened and metered gravity diversion, repairing the landowner's leaky water delivery pipe, replacing a fish-blocking county culvert on the Illinois River Road, and removing two fish-blocking logging road culverts upstream. |
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Thanks to your support, Takelma Creek is now free-flowing from headwaters to confluence for the first time in over 70 years! Since completion, the project has won the 2024 Western District American Fisheries Society Award of Excellence in Riparian Management. Even better: this summer, federal biologists documented threatened Coho salmon upstream of the former dam site for the first time. For decades, ending the harm caused by obsolete barriers that delay, injure, and kill Oregon's prized fish runs has been a major part of WaterWatch's work to restore the Rogue's natural abundance and resiliency. Now, WaterWatch is working faster than ever to improve fish passage to high elevation coldwater habitat and bolster native Rogue fish populations against the growing impacts of climate change. No single river restoration action provides a bigger return on investment than barrier removal. But our work to Free the Rogue is only possible with your help! Please make a one-time gift today to support WaterWatch. For rivers & fish, The WaterWatch of Oregon Team P.S. – There's more about the Takelma project and WaterWatch’s many other barrier removal successes on our website and in this Rogue Valley Times article. |
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