LB 37-316 - Social impact assessment of Klamath dam removal for tribal community well-being: A collaborative research initiative with the Karuk Tribe

This collaborative research initiative engages the Karuk Tribe, the Karuk Department of Natural Resources, and the Karuk Tribal community to co-develop an assessment tool to evaluate the social, cultural and economic impacts of dam removal in the Klamath Basin from a Tribal perspective. The assessment focuses on the social impacts of dam removal and associated river restoration to Karuk Tribal community well-being, which focuses on cultural resources, livelihoods, self-governance, education and holistic health. This assessment aims to provide a baseline for understanding social impacts of Klamath dam removal processes starting this year. Part of our goal is to track how and to what extent the Karuk Tribe benefits from dam removal, and learn how to better include tribal perspectives in social impact assessments. Research contributions include our application of well-being frameworks to social impact assessment. We are also contributing through our approach to building long-term tribal-academic partnerships supporting tribally led initiatives for ecological and cultural restoration in the mid-Klamath. Further research contributions include our findings on tribal community experiences and goals for Klamath dam removal and river restoration, which we have gathered from fall 2022 and spring 2023 focus groups with tribal community members, as well as from a survey offered to over 7,700 tribal community members. The origin of the project is tribally led sessions with the Klamath Dam Removal Science and Monitoring Technical Coordination Workshop (2020), where attendees noted a gap in socioeconomic assessment of dam removal processes to date, and Tribal colleagues invited academic researchers to work with them on addressing this gap. Additional project information is available at https://damremovalsocialimpact.com/