Klamath River

Klamath River
The Klamath River in California
Map of the Klamath River watershed. The artificially connected Lost River/Butte Creek basins are shown in yellow.
Etymology	For the Klamath people, by early 19th-century fur trappers[1]
Native name	Ishkêesh (Karok) Koke (Klamath-Modoc) Hehlkeek 'We-Roy (Yurok)
Location
Country	United States
State	Oregon, California
City	Klamath Falls
Physical characteristics
Source	Lake Ewauna
• location	Klamath Falls, Oregon
• coordinates	42°11′29″N 121°46′58″W / 42.19139°N 121.78278°W / 42.19139; -121.78278[2]
• elevation	4,088 ft (1,246 m)[3]
Mouth	Pacific Ocean
• location	Requa, California
• coordinates	41°32′49″N 124°5′0″W / 41.54694°N 124.08333°W / 41.54694; -124.08333[2]
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	257 mi (414 km)[4]
Basin size	15,500 sq mi (40,000 km2)[5]
Discharge
• location	Klamath, CA, about 3.2 mi (5.1 km) from the mouth[6]
• average	16,430 cu ft/s (465 m3/s)
• minimum	1,310 cu ft/s (37 m3/s)
• maximum	557,000 cu ft/s (15,800 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Shasta River, Scott River, Elk Creek, Salmon River, Trinity River
• right	Jenny Creek, Clear Creek, Blue Creek
National Wild and Scenic River
Type	Wild: 11.7 miles (18.8 km) Scenic: 34.5 miles (55.5 km) Recreational: 250.8 miles (403.6 km)
Designated	January 19, 1981 (California)[7] September 22, 1994 (Oregon)[8]

The Klamath River (Karuk: Ishkêesh,^[9] Klamath: Koke,^[10] Yurok: Hehlkeek 'We-Roy^[11]) is a 257-mile (414 km) long river in southern Oregon and northern California. Beginning near Klamath Falls in the Oregon high desert, it flows west through the Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains before reaching the temperate rainforest of California's North Coast, where it empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Klamath River is the third-largest salmon and steelhead producing river on the west coast of the contiguous United States. The river's watershed – the Klamath Basin – encompasses more than 15,000 square miles (39,000 km²), and is known for its biodiverse forests, large areas of designated wilderness, and freshwater marshes that provide key migratory bird habitat.

Native Americans have used the river as a source of food and trade for thousands of years, and it continues to hold great cultural significance for tribes. Most lands along the upper Klamath were settled by Euro-Americans following exploration by fur trappers in the early to mid-19th century. Violent conflict and displacement of tribes occurred during the California Gold Rush as prospectors pushed into the lower Klamath basin, leading to a bitter fight over establishing reservation lands. In the early 20th century, the federal government drained the upper basin's once extensive lakes and wetlands for agriculture, while private utilities constructed hydroelectric dams along the river. As salmon runs declined in the mid-20th century, tribes pushed for legal recognition of their senior water rights to support Klamath River fisheries, which have led to controversial reductions in irrigation water supply.

In the 21st century, the Klamath River hosts a wide variety of uses, including tribal subsistence fishing and ceremonies, recreational fishing and whitewater boating, and agricultural and domestic water supply. Starting in 1981, much of the Klamath River and its tributaries have been designated National Wild and Scenic Rivers. Four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River were demolished by October 2024, following almost two decades of negotiations between local representatives, tribes, conservation groups and the utility company operating the dams. This enabled salmon migration to the Upper Klamath Basin for the first time in over 100 years, and established new guidelines for Klamath water use to achieve a compromise between agricultural needs and fishery flows.