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Dan Bacher: Klamath Dam removal agreement unveiled today

Posted by: Maven on September 30, 2009 at 12:48 pm

From Dan Bacher, this commentary:

“In one of the largest dam removal projects in history, three Indian Tribes and 26 other parties released a tentative agreement today providing for the removal of four Klamath River Dam owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Company.

The agreement would remove Iron Gate, Copco 1, Copco 2 and J.C. Boyle dams, opening up historic habitat above Iron Gate Dam to the migration of coho salmon, chinook salmon and steehead for the first time in many decades. Klamath Hydroelectric Relicensing Agreement, would provide a pathway that would lead to dam removal in 2020, following an analysis by the Secretary of the Interior to determine “whether dam removal is indeed to the benefit of fisheries resources and in the public interest,” according to a joint statement by a coalition of groups released early this morning.

The Yurok, Karuk and Klamath Tribes have supported the process to date, touting it as an historic opportunity to restore the Klamath, historically one of the great salmon and steelhead streams of the West. On the other hand, the Hoopa Valley Tribe has opposed the pact, calling the agreement an “Old West water deal.” Fishing groups have generally supported the process, while environmental groups and farming organizations are split over the process, with many supporting it and others opposing it.

“Once we decided to stop fighting and start talking, we realized the opportunities provided by collaboration and coalition building,” said Jeff Mitchell, council member for the Klamath Tribes of Oregon. “We haven’t seen salmon in our country for 90 years; this Agreement represents our best chance of finally bringing the salmon home.” …”

“In coming weeks Klamath Basin Tribes, counties, conservation groups, fishing groups, and farming and ranching organizations will consider the pros and cons of the Agreement and decide whether or not to support it, according to a joint press release by a coalition of groups. Already, several groups appear eager to support the Agreement and move forward with resolving what many have thought was the America’s most intractable water war.

The groups issuing the joint statement today include the Karuk Tribe, Klamath Tribes of Oregon, Yurok Tribe, American Rivers, Trout Unlimited, California Trout, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Salmon River Restoration Council, Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, National Center for Conservation Science and Policy, Sustainable and the Natural Heritage Institute.

“Klamath communities are redefining what is possible in terms of large scale ecosystem restoration,” said Chuck Bonham of Trout Unlimited. “The key to success is an approach that supports all of the Klamath’s diverse rural communities.”

The groups said the KHSA would be complemented by the implementation of a companion agreement, the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA). Whereas the KHSA focuses on the fate of PacifiCorp’s lower four Klamath River Dams, the KBRA significantly increases water flows for fish, provides greater reliability of irrigation water delivery, undertakes Basin-scale habitat restoration, and makes critical economic investments to ensure the economic viability of Basin fishing and farming communities into the future.

“This Agreement represents a major step toward restoring the health of the Klamath River,” said Troy Fletcher, negotiator and Yurok Tribal member. “We look forward to working with all Tribal, agricultural, and fishing communities in the Klamath Basin on implementing these solutions.”

The groups said the KHSA provides “a pathway that would lead to dam removal in 2020 following an analysis by the Secretary of the Interior to determine whether dam removal is indeed to the benefit of fisheries resources and in the public interest.” In addition, the safety of dam removal must be scrutinized through a public environmental review process consistent with all applicable state and federal environmental laws.

“Of course we’d like to see the dams removed tomorrow, but the reality is we must make sure dam removal is as safe as preliminary assessments suggest and that it can be done cost effectively,” said Steve Rothert, California Director for American Rivers. “For a restoration action that is simply unprecedented in scale and scope, this is actually a reasonable timeline.”

The KHSA is based on the Agreement in Principle reached between PacifiCorp, Oregon, California, and the federal government in November of 2008. It provides for funding up to $200 million in dam removal costs by collecting a surcharge from PacifiCorp’s Oregon and California customers over the next 10 years. Earlier this year, the Oregon legislature authorized the customer surcharge.

If necessary, the State of California would provide up to $250 million more towards the cost of removal with the total project costs not to exceed $450 million.

Greg Able, Chairman & CEO of PacifiCorp, describes the agreement as a “balanced and reasonable outcome that best protects the interests of our customers, while achieving the policy objectives of the states and federal government, as well as helping to peacefully resolve numerous conflicts in the Klamath basin.”

The groups say the release of the proposed Agreement marks “a significant shift in attitude for many in the basin. Over the past 20 years the Klamath has been marked by bitter and acrimonious debate. The various communities had targeted one another with lawsuits and protests, often marked by acts of civil disobedience, in a failure to truly resolve issues pertaining to water rights, river flows, and economic development.”

The agreement would not have been possible without the intense political pressure that the tribes and fishing organizations put on Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owns PacifiCorp, at the annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska in 2007 and 2008. The tribes and fishermen disrupted the meeting in 2008, dropping banners and demanding that Buffett sign a dam removal agreement.

After an “agreement in principle” was reached between the federal government, Oregon, California and PacifiCorp last year, the tribes and fishermen went back to the shareholders meeting in late April and May.

One of the biggest obstacles in the campaign by tribes, fishing groups, farming organizations and environmentalists to remove the dams is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s insistence that Klamath Dam removal be linked to a multi-billion dollar general obligation water bond that would build a peripheral canal and Temperance Flat and Sites Reservoirs. The canal is strongly opposed by a broad coalition of fishing groups, conservation organizations, Indian Tribes and farming organizations and Delta residents.

Opponents of the canal and new dams will strongly contest any Klamath dam removal agreement that leads to the destruction of Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations, now in an unprecedented state of collapse, is absolutely unacceptable.”

September 30, 2009 · Filed Under Northern California

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