Klamath River Hydroelectric Projects (FERC No. 2082)

PacifiCorp’s 151-megawatt (mw) Klamath River Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 2082) is located in a predominantly rural area in southwestern Oregon (Klamath County) and northern California (Siskiyou, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties).

Originating from Upper Klamath Lake in southern Oregon, the Klamath River flows 240 miles from Oregon into northern California before emptying into the Pacific Ocean near Klamath, CA. The river drains an area of about 13,000 square miles. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owns several large tracts of land in the project vicinity and is responsible for the management of the designated Klamath Wild and Scenic Reach, which covers about 11 miles of the project’s total 64 mile length.

Built between 1908 and 1962, PacifiCorp’s Klamath River Hydroelectric Project consists of seven hydroelectric developments and one nongenerating dam. The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation owns Link River Dam which PacifiCorp operates in coordination with the company’s projects. The Link River Dam, located upstream of PacifiCorp’s projects, forms Upper Klamath Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Oregon. In addition to diverting water for PacifiCorp hydroelectric generation, water releases through Link River dam from Upper Klamath Lake fulfill other objectives including irrigation, flood control and instream flows for anadromous fish.

All of PacifiCorp’s projects use water from Upper Klamath Lake or from the mainstem Klamath River to generate electricity – except one plant that is located on Fall Creek, a tributary to the Klamath River.

PacifiCorp’s seven hydroelectric projects are:

• Eastside
• Westside
• JC Boyle
• Copco Nos. 1 & 2
• Fall Creek
• Iron Gate

Keno Dam, located 25 miles downstream of the Westside plant, does not produce electricity and regulates water flows.

The Klamath projects have a total of 12 turbine-generators; five limited storage reservoirs and five concrete or earth/rock fill dams. The project’s five reservoirs range in size from 40 to about 1,000 surface acres. The 173-foot earth and rockfill dam associated with the Iron Gate project is the tallest dam — it forms the 944-acre Iron Gate Reservoir. As the last development in the sequence of PacifiCorp’s Klamath River hydroelectric facilities, Iron Gate serves as a reregulation facility for river flows downstream of the Klamath River project.

PacifiCorp voluntarily maintains 20 recreation sites associated with the Klamath project. Attracting thousands of visitors each year, the Klamath facilities include campgrounds, boat ramps, trails, and picnic, fishing and swimming areas.

In 2000, the FERC relicensing process was initiated for PacifiCorp's Klamath River project in southern Oregon and northern California.