PREVIOUSLY

• Indigenous Kids Are Kayaking the Entire Length of the Klamath River For the First Time Ever

Press release from Rios to Rivers:

Klamath River, CA - This week, Ruby Williams, Keeya Wiki, and Kiahna Allen, participants from the Rios to Rivers Paddle Tribal Waters first descent of the Klamath River, head to Brazil to participate in COP30, the largest global United Nations event for discussions and negotiations on climate change. There, they will join scientists, world leaders, and activists to share the Klamath River Accord, a landmark declaration to protect free-flowing rivers and recognize dam removal as a powerful solution for climate resilience and environmental justice.

“The way our communities came together to undam the Klamath River can be done elsewhere,” said Ruby Williams, a Karuk person enrolled with Quartz Valley Indian Reservation. “I look forward to sharing our story, and helping others advocate for their home rivers”

Signed in July after the completion of the First Descent of the Klamath River, the Klamath River Accord is a call to action for global leaders and commits its signatories to protect free-flowing rivers, oppose construction of new dams, support dam removal as a climate solution, support river restoration, and uphold Indigenous rights. Inspired by the successful movement to remove four dams from the Klamath River. It was co-written by the Rivers for Climate Coalition, Native youth and staff from Ríos to Rivers, and river defenders and experts from around the world.

“Hydropower is often touted as a source of clean energy, but in reality, dams cause considerable harm to rivers, ecosystems, and communities.” Said Kiahna Allen, who is from the Confederated Tribes Of Warm Springs and San Carlos Apache Nation. “Putting a dam on a river is an act of theft. It denies the entire ecosystem—from the fish and wildlife to future generations—the right to clean, flowing water.”

Dams and their reservoirs drown landscapes, warm rivers, block fish passage, and create considerable amounts of Carbon Dioxide and Methane, both significant drivers in climate change. Although emissions from dams and their reservoirs are not yet fully understood, researchers estimate that they represent the 4th largest human-caused source of methane emissions globally.

“Undamming the Klamath River was a decades-long intergenerational fight,” Said Keeya Wiki, Yurok Tribal member “My greatest hope is that we can spare other communities from that fight.”