Klamath Diversion

A tunnel would have carried much of the Klamath's water to the Sacramento River, whose flow would be routed around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and travel under the Tehachapi Mountains to the Los Angeles Basin.

However, the Klamath River has one of the western continental United States' most significant salmon runs, and building the diversion would have all but destroyed this productive fishery.

[1] The rapid development of the American Southwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries coincided with a wet period that swelled the flow of rivers, allowing for much more water consumption than was sustainable under normal, long-term conditions.

The Colorado River, the main water supply of the Desert Southwest, averaged 17 million acre-feet (21 km3) of annual runoff from pre-1920s gaged records.

[2] The only remaining large, undammed river systems in California were those in the wild North Coast region, which drain to the Pacific Ocean nearly unused by agriculture or cities.

At the time, diverting the Klamath into the Sacramento River system, in turn augmenting its flow for use in Central and Southern California, was an attractive idea.

In 1965 Congress passed a bill requiring the Bureau of Reclamation to seek congressional approval before conducting feasibility studies for water projects.

Ironically, the City of Los Angeles and other entities within Southern California – who would be among the principal beneficiaries – heavily opposed the plan.

Combined with concerted opposition from Northern California voters, who saw it as just another water grab by the thirsty south that would damage the ecology, fisheries and natural beauty of the North Coast, the project never left the drawing boards.