Utility Loses Fish-Ladder Ruling
By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press
September 29, 2006

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - PacifiCorp said Thursday it will continue to seek approval for its proposal to truck salmon around four dams on the Klamath River as part of a new operating license after losing a challenge of the science behind a federal mandate to build more expensive fish ladders.

''We are disappointed with many of the findings by the (judge) and we don't agree with them,'' PacifiCorp spokesman Dave Kvamme said Thursday from Portland. ''Now we are going to continue to focus on the (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) licensing process.

''This isn't the end of the process. It's just another step.''

In the first case of its kind under a new provision of federal energy law, PacifiCorp had challenged mandates from federal fisheries agencies that it restore free-swimming fish passage past the dams, screen turbines and devote a smaller proportion of the river to power production as a condition of a new 50-year operating license.

In findings filed late Wednesday by Administrative Law Judge Parlen L. McKenna of Alameda, the utility lost on 11 out of 14 issues of material fact. None of the points on which PacifiCorp prevailed applied directly to whether salmon could be restored to the upper river.

''This shows that the science was upheld. The process works,'' said Steve Edmondson, Northern California habitat supervisor for NOAA Fisheries, which with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed requiring PacifiCorp to build fish ladders over the four dams.

Indian tribes, salmon fishermen, and conservation groups said they hoped the judge's findings would lead PacifiCorp to ultimately decide it is cheaper to remove the dams.

''If we are going to make major gains in protecting salmon, the Klamath is the place to start,'' said Craig Tucker, Klamath campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe. ''It's because these dams are very poor power producers. If you compare the benefits they provide versus the social costs, the conclusion is clear these dams should be removed.''

Historically, the Klamath was the third biggest producer of salmon on the West Coast, after the Columbia and the Sacramento-San Joaquin systems, enjoying returns of 600,000 and 1 million fish a year. It now sees a small fraction of that and 70,000 adults died before spawning in a 2002 fish kill.

This year federal fisheries managers practically shut down commercial salmon fishing on the West Coast to protect Klamath chinook after the third straight year of poor returns. Expectations are that poor returns will continue for some years.

PacifiCorp has estimated it would cost $250 million to build fish ladders and make other improvements for salmon mandated by federal fisheries agencies, and would cut power production at the 150-megawatt facility in half. FERC has estimated that the federal fish mandates would leave PacifiCorp losing $28.7 million a year if it continues to operate the dams.

''We still have a tremendous amount of work to do to get people on the river focusing on restoration,'' said Steve Thompson, California-Nevada operations manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ''The (dam relicensing) process is a long process. We have an urgent need to get back to the river and get it restored.''

Backed by Judge McKenna's findings, NOAA Fisheries now must compare PacifiCorp's cheaper alternative against the more expensive proposal to build fish ladders, said Edmondson.

If it finds trucking salmon is just as beneficial to fish, NOAA Fisheries must endorse PacifiCorp's plan, he said. If NOAA Fisheries finds fish ladders are more beneficial, FERC has to accept that as a condition of the license.

Judge McKenna found that salmon and steelhead historically spawned and reared in the reaches of the Klamath, Upper Klamath Lake, and tributaries before the first of the dams was built in 1917.

Habitat above the dams is good enough, and fish living below the dams are genetically suitable to repopulate the new areas, despite warm water in the summer, diseases in the water, and predators in the reservoirs, the judge found.

''The fact that anadromous fish currently complete life cycles through eight dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake rivers, and historically completed life cycles through Upper Klamath lake, provides strong evidence that anadromous salmonids could also migrate through the reservoirs created by Project facilities,'' McKenna wrote.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.

PacifiCorp Loses Challenge of Fish Ladders Over Dams
By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press
September 27, 2006

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Salmon and steelhead would take back hundreds of miles of habitat above a series of hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River if they had fish ladders to get there, an administrative law judge found late Wednesday.

The finding by Administrative Law Judge Parlen L. McKenna, following a two-day hearing last month in Sacramento, Calif., adds to increasing public relations and economic pressure on PacifiCorp to remove the four dams straddling the Oregon-California border to help the Klamath River's struggling salmon runs.

The Portland-based utility has estimated it would cost $250 million to build fish ladders and make other improvements for salmon mandated by federal fisheries agencies, and would cut power production at the 150-megawatt facility in half.

In the first case of its kind under a new provision of federal energy law, PacifiCorp had challenged mandates from federal fisheries agencies that it restore free-swimming fish passage past the dams, screen turbines and devote a smaller proportion of the river to power production.

The utility lost on 11 out of 14 findings of material fact, none of which applied directly to whether salmon could be restored to the upper river with fish ladders.

In the past, utilities had no way to challenge mandates from federal agencies to make dams more fish friendly. But last year, federal energy law was changed to give them a chance to dispute the facts leading to the mandates. The law was applied retroactively to the Klamath dams.

The judge's findings make it much more likely that the mandates will stick, and that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will not be able to ignore them, said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which represents California commercial salmon fishermen.

They also undermine PacifiCorp's proposal, supported by FERC, to use trucks to haul salmon around some of the dams to see if they survive before taking bigger steps, Spain added.

Though it has no power to mandate dam removal, NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency in charge of restoring salmon runs, has said removing the dams is best for Klamath salmon.

Salmon have been struggling in the Klamath for decades, with 70,000 spawning adults dying in low warm water conditions in 2002. This year federal fisheries managers practically shut down commercial salmon fishing on the West Coast to give wild fish a better chance to return to the river to spawn, costing fishermen $16 million.

Indian tribes, salmon fishermen and conservation groups are pressing PacifiCorp to remove the dams, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which decides whether to grant a new operating license, has agreed in preliminary findings with PacifiCorp's proposal to truck fish around the dams.

Judge McKenna found that salmon and steelhead historically spawned and reared in the reaches of the Klamath, Upper Klamath Lake, and tributaries before the first of the dams was built in 1917.

Habitat above the dams is good enough, and fish living below the dams are genetically suitable to repopulate the new areas, despite warm water in the summer, diseases in the water, and predators in the reservoirs, the judge found.

"The fact that anadromous fish currently complete life cycles through eight dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake rivers, and historically completed life cycles through Upper Klamath lake, provides strong evidence that anadromous salmonids could also migrate through the reservoirs created by Project facilities," McKenna wrote.

PacifiCorp spokesman Dave Kvamme said the company had not seen the findings, and would have to reserve comment until it had studied them.

In other developments, the California State Coastal Conservancy issued studies finding that sediments trapped behind the dams contain very low levels of toxic materials, and only 5 percent of the 21 million cubic yards of sand and gravel would wash out if the dams were removed.

Conservancy project manager Michael Bowen said the studies showed removing the dams was "feasible and affordable."

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.

Judge Backs Fish Ladders on Klamath River Dams
By Eric Bailey, LA Times
September 29, 2006

SACRAMENTO — In a victory for environmentalists, commercial fishermen and Indian tribes, a federal judge has backed a push by U.S. wildlife agencies for fish ladders over four Klamath River dams blamed for sagging salmon runs.

The proposed fish passages would return chinook and endangered coho salmon as well as steelhead and Pacific lamprey to 350 miles of river cut off for more than half a century by the towering hydropower dams.

But environmentalists and other foes of the dams are hopeful that the hefty cost of installing ladders — expected to be more than $220 million — could push the dams' owner, PacifiCorp of Portland, Ore., to end its fight to win renewal of a long-term operating license and instead remove the dams.

Judge Parlen McKenna's ruling late Wednesday comes just days after a federal panel that licenses hydropower dams issued a preliminary environmental report rejecting fish ladders. That report, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, largely sided with PacifiCorp's less-costly proposal to truck salmon around the dams.

Dam foes hope the judge's ruling will force the commission to amend its draft plan.

PacifiCorp officials say they aren't about to concede. "We're disappointed," said spokesman Dave Kvamme. But he characterized the judicial findings as "just one more step" in a long process that won't conclude until next year.

The 87-page ruling by McKenna found that the dams have had a serious effect on the salmon and other fish that make a home in the Klamath.

It also backed calls by U.S. wildlife managers for increased river flows to help deal with fish-killing parasites and disease.

Leaf Hillman, vice chairman of the Karuk tribe, said it would be cheaper for PacifiCorp to remove the dams than to continue pushing forward with a license renewal and costly fish ladders.

"We're ready to negotiate a fair settlement with PacifiCorp," Hillman said.

"Hopefully, this ruling will motivate the company to do the same."

Declining salmon runs in the Klamath this year severely curtailed commercial fishing along a 700-mile stretch of Oregon and Northern California coast. Fishermen say their catch is just 10% of normal, and are seeking federal disaster funding to keep the industry from sinking.

"PacifiCorp's Klamath dams have been a disaster," said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assns.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.