Mark Bransom, CEO since 2016 of Klamath River Renewal Corp., credits his more than 30-year career in water resources management and engineering for his ability to oversee the successful completion of the largest dam removal project of the history of the United States. The $450 million project involved the removal of four dams, built between 1903 and 1962 and reaching 425 feet in height, across 35 miles of the Klamath River in Oregon and California.
The ability to be nimble proved critical to the success of the project, which began as the nucleus of an idea more than 20 years ago through the efforts of tribal leaders dedicated to returning the river to its natural state and opening it up once again in salmon habitat.
“The things I’ve learned through project execution experience over the years have taught me to maintain a strong focus on risk assessment and management, and [the project team] He did a really good job with that, being flexible as unknowns became known or partially known, and he was nimble in addressing risk and change,” says Bransom.
“Mark Bransom has a unique combination of technical, political, regulatory and communication skills… to anticipate a potential problem, assemble the right team to develop solutions and build consensus with a diverse group of stakeholders to implement the solution” , says Morton McMillen, executive vice president. president of McMillen Corp., which provided design and engineering services on the project. “Mark’s passion and dedication to the Klamath project showed every day and was instrumental in inspiring the members of the Klamath team to overcome every obstacle they encountered.”
Long advance
The effort began when PacifiCorp, the dams’ former owner, allowed its licenses to operate them to lapse in 2006, eventually reaching a settlement with federal, state, local and tribal authorities, as well as nine conservation and fishing groups, to remove the structures. PacifiCorp transferred the licenses to the new moving company, which handled the decommissioning and decommissioning process for the four hydroelectric facilities.
A former faculty member at Oregon State University, where he earned a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering, Bransom had served as senior vice president of water resources and environmental management at CH2M Hill and oversaw major water infrastructure projects and environmental restoration. “I consider myself a generalist rather than a specialist,” he says.
“I had the ability to listen to different perspectives, both technical and non-technical, and use the information to help formulate approaches to solving problems,” Bransom says, adding that he then assembled a team to help carry out the work started by the local tribes. “The renewal corporation has benefited from the relationship we’ve developed with the tribes, who have been at this for several decades.”
The near-simultaneous removal of all four dams in 2024 released sediment that had been accumulating for about 100 years. Bransom says his biggest successes came from understanding when to use existing infrastructure and when to build new structures during reservoir dewatering and then making real-time decisions about how much sediment to move into the river. “Mark’s commitment to the Klamath project was instrumental in aligning community, tribal and agency partners,” says Dan Petersen, project manager for contractor Kiewit, which handled the moves. “His ability to foster collaboration and build trust advanced the most critical components of the project.”
The project now focuses on the restoration of the river and its surroundings. Once completed, likely in 2028 or 2029, the moving company will transfer the project’s land to the two states.
