The Scott River, in the Klamath Basin in Northern California, supports a large population of wild coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kitsuch), a culturally and ecologically important species facing threats under climate change. In the Scott River agricultural floodplain, irrigation and fish habitat needs compete for water during the summer, resulting in regulatory conflict between farmers, indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders, including the Scott River Watershed Council. Climate change, bringing warmer and drier summers, heightens this water availability problem, as do agricultural practices such as building channels  and destroying riparian corridors. 

 The purpose of this project is to determine which ecological restoration strategies for salmon habitat are most likely to produce multi-stakeholder buy-in while also being durable to climate change.  This project is particularly interested in the potential of man-made beaver dam-like structures, or beaver dam analogs, to enhance and restore salmon habitat while also providing co-benefits to farmers. These benefits include raising the water table to make more water available for irrigation while simultaneously reducing effects of flooding and damage to infrastructure.