By Cade Stirling | Nov. 26, 2024 | KOBI-TV News
With the successful removal of Pomeroy Dam, the Rogue Basin’s highest-priority barrier to native fish has come down.
WaterWatch of Oregon, the statewide water conservation group, worked with state and national partners like the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the U.S. Forest Service to remove the 270-foot wide concrete diversion dam.
ODFW identified Pomeroy Dam as a priority to be removed back in 2019.
This is the second barrier to be removed from the Illinois River in two years, after the Takelma Creek Dam.
According to WaterWatch, the removal opens access to approximately 100 miles of formerly blocked spawning habitat for salmon and steelhead.
“The fish in the river won’t be delayed injured or stopped by the dam anymore,” Jim McCarthy with WaterWatch told NBC-5 News. “They’ll just be able to swim through.”
“Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, winter steelhead, cutthroat, all these fish that are valued by a lot of people, and benefit fishing communities on the coast. They’ll have an easier time getting up to the cold, clear water where they need to reproduce so that we can have these native fish runs into the future.”
ODFW led salvage operations at the site prior to demolition to mitigate effects to native fish.
Project construction will continue in to 2025, focusing on improvements to irrigation and road infrastructure.
This story originally appeared on KOBI-TV on Nov. 26, 2024.