Klamath Water Deal Still Missing Dam Removals

The deal could set the stage for a second agreement to remove four dams blocking salmon from their spawning grounds.

The details of a proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement were released today by the Klamath Settlement Group. The group includes representatives from diverse Klamath Basin communities and officers from tribal, federal, state, and county governments that all have a stake in the basin.

A program to rebuild fish populations healthy enough for sustainable tribal, recreational, and commercial fisheries and reliable water allocation to sustain the needs of the agricultural community and national wildlife refuges in the basin are in the agreement.

Parties to the agreement say it could lead to removal of four dams on the Klamath River, but the dams' owner, billionaire Warren Buffett's PacifiCorp electric utility, has not signed on.

Still, the deal includes a program to stabilize power costs in the area and a compensation program for counties that may be impacted if the dams are ever removed.

"The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement marks a major stride forward in bringing peace to the Klamath River," said Brian Stranko, chief executive of the fishing and water quality advocacy group California Trout, one of the conservation groups that participated in the proposed agreement.

"This is, however, only half of the pie. We also need success in negotiations with PacifiCorp to remove four mainstem dams before this Basin Restoration Agreement can be signed and implemented," Stranko said. "The two separate agreements make a non-severable package."

Originating from Upper Klamath Lake in southern Oregon, the Klamath River flows 240 miles from Oregon into northern California before emptying into the Pacific Ocean near Klamath, California. The river drains an area of about 13,000 square miles.

The Klamath Settlement Group was first formed in 2004 after PacifiCorp applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, for relicensing of five mainstem dams it currently runs on the Klamath River.

Dam on the Klamath River (Photo courtesy Oregon Wild)

The lower three dams block passage for salmon, steelhead and lamprey to over 300 of miles of spawning and rearing habitat.

Under the federal relicensing process, parties can submit to FERC a preferred negotiated outcome. Negotiations with PacifiCorp on an agreement are still proceeding.

"It hasn't been easy; it was a tough several years putting this proposal together, but I've got new found respect for all the communities involved from tribal to environmental and farming," said Chuck Bonham of Trout Unlimited. "I am also hopeful we can develop a good business deal that works for PacifiCorp and for the river too. We can and should do both."

"Removing these dams makes sense," said Steve Rothert of American Rivers. "By releasing the proposed Basin Restoration Agreement today, we're saying that there is a better way, and that ongoing environmental degradation is no longer an option. It's time to bring disparate groups together and work out realistic solutions that will pave the way for a better, more responsible future."

As water resources have dried, the Klamath River Basin has seen a decade of fierce fighting.

In the dry year of 2001, the federal government cut back water to farmers and held it for endangered fish, starting a heated summer of confrontation that saw farmers forcing open locked water gates.

The next year farmers got more water for irrigation, but environmentalists said at least 70,000 salmon died without enough water.

By 2006, there were so few chinook salmon in the river that federal officials slashed the commercial fishing season, causing hardship for fishermen and California restaurants and diners.

"The Klamath River was once the third greatest Pacific salmon producing stream in the lower 48 states," said Brian Barr of the National Center for Conservation Science and Policy. "Decades of degrading habitat and blocking fish from 300 miles of stream have caused wild salmon populations to drop by 90 percent. We need to build a robust future for the Klamath River and the communities that depend on it."

"It's no longer just a matter of fish. It's now a human health issue," said Zeke Grader, director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "Toxic liver-damaging algae blooms and massive fish-kills are common day occurrences for Klamath communities."

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