The McCloud Dam
Diverting Glacial Water
Buliyum Puyuuk (Mt. Shasta) drains 1,255 acres across seven glaciers: Bolam, Hotlum, Konwakiton, Mud Creek, Watkins, Whitney, and Wintun Glaciers. Of these, Hotlum,Konwakiton, Mud Creek, Watkins, and Wintun drain directly to the Winnemem Waywaket (McCloud River).
Disrupting Water Mass Balance
The McCloud Dam creates a warm-water reservoir, diverting an average of 700 cubic feet per second of glacial water into Iron Canyon, another warm-water reservoir in the Pit River basin.
Displacement of large volumes of water disrupts the water mass balance across the Winnemem Waywaket (McCloud) and Puiitipom (Pit) River watersheds.
Coequal Goals
The Tribe believes that expansion of anadromous fish habitat above the McCloud Dam is not mutually exclusive with energy production in the Winnemem Waywaket basin.
Engineering design of the McCloud-Pit Complex can be updated to meet 21st century standards, providing both suitable cold-water habitat for fish, as well as augmented energy production.
“Imagine the networks of wild water in California and how they looked much different 500 years ago. And when we domesticate water, we lose touch with something essential, because rivers are the lifeblood of entire ecologies and cultures.”
Chief Caleen Sisk on the Fight for Free and Wild Salmon Rivers
For the Wild Podcast
