PacifiCorp to Announce Klamath River Agreement
By Dan Bacher, Indymedia
November 13, 2008

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, along with representatives from the State of California, the State of Oregon and PacifiCorp, will make a major announcement today about a non-binding agreement that provides a plan for the removal of four dams on the Klamath River.

Federal officials yesterday in Sacramento briefed Klamath Basin Indian Tribes, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, farmers and state officials on an agreement in principle for PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, to turn over control of the dams so they can be removed to restore declining runs of salmon and steelhead.

"This announcement is the first critical step down a presumptive path toward a historic resolution of Klamath River resource issues and the Klamath River dams," according a release from the Department of Interior.

"It's an agreement in principle with strong language supporting dam removal," said Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Indian Tribe. "We still have a long way to go until dam removal takes place, including the passing of legislation."

However, repeating the campaign phrase of the incoming administration, Tucker said, "Yes we can!" in reference to dam removal. "We have a new relationship with PacifiCorp," added Tucker.

Tucker said the deadline for the final agreement will be in June 2009. The target for the beginning of dam removal is 2020.

The Department of Interior and a coalition of Klamath Basin Indian Tribes, environmental groups, sportfishing organizations and commercial fishing groups will be issuing press releases about the non-binding agreement today.

Not all environmental groups are supporting the agreement. Oregon Wild is opposing the deal because they believes it shifts away the responsibility from PacifiCorp and provides no guarantees for dam removal.

"Everyone wants dam removal, but why are we letting the Bush administration dictate Klamath Basin policy?" said Sean Stevens, spokesman for Oregon Wild, a group that was kicked out of settlement negotiations. "This is the same administration that caused the worst fish kill in U.S. history. Now the administration is setting up a deal with all sorts of 'off ramps' and lets PacifiCorp off the hook. We already have processes like the 401 Clean Water Permit process and the FERC licensing that have found that removing the dams would be less expensive than installing fish ladders."

During October, hundreds of members of Klamath River Indian Tribes, commercial fishing organizations, recreational fishing groups and conservation organizations testified in favor of dam removal at a series of meetings held by the State Water Resources Control Board in Klamath, Orleans, Eureka, Yreka and Sacramento. They spoke in favor of denying PacifiCorp a 401 clean water permit because of toxic algae blooms fostered by Iron Gate and Copco dams on the Klamath River.

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.

Groups Briefed on Pact to Remove Klamath Dams
By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press
November 12, 2008

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- The Bush administration announced Wednesday a non-binding agreement with PacifiCorp that details how the utility can turn over control of four Klamath River hydroelectric dams so they can be removed to help struggling salmon.

While not a final answer, the deal reached in Sacramento, Calif., represents a milestone toward what would become the biggest dam removal project in U.S. history and help resolve issues at the root of the 2001 shutoff of irrigation to thousands of acres of farmland and the 2002 deaths of 70,000 adult salmon after irrigation water was restored.

Though the Bush administration has opposed removing hydroelectric dams in the Columbia Basin, Interior Department Counselor Michael Bogert said from Sacramento that it recognized that removing the four Klamath dams was a key to resolving the Klamath Basin's scarce water issues.

"The president and the secretary (of Interior) were determined in the aftermath of 2001 and 2002 to come up with a comprehensive approach to deal with the issues and images we saw in the Klamath Basin," Bogert said. "This represents our best effort to negotiate what is a business decision for the company."

While it is non-binding, the depth of detail in the 29-page agreement represents a commitment to go through with dam removal, Bogert added.

According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the agreement is a roadmap for turning the dams over to a nonfederal entity and starting to remove them by 2020.

Deadline for a binding agreement is June 30, 2009. Removal would be contingent on a favorable cost-benefit analysis, absolving PacifiCorp of environmental liability, and allowing operations to continue until each dam is removed without having to clean up toxic algae blooms that are a roadblock to renewal of a federal operating license.

The deal embraces a $1 billion environmental restoration blueprint for the Klamath Basin that has been endorsed by farmers, Indian tribes, salmon fishermen and conservation groups. Besides restoring fish habitat, it guarantees water and cheap electricity for farmers, as well as continued access to federal wildlife refuges for farming.

The whole thing is contingent on Congress enacting legislation creating a nonfederal entity to take control of the dams and remove them.

Removal costs estimated at up to $450 million would be covered by a surcharge on PacifiCorp customers in Oregon and California and by $250 million in borrowing from the state of California.

"It is not a done deal," said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which represents California commercial salmon fishermen. `But it is a break out of gridlock into a dam removal pathway that shows great promise.

"The end result of that path will be dam removal. It is also an expeditious way of doing it and an expeditious way of bringing the next administration up to speed on this issue."

Oregon Wild, a Portland-based conservation group kicked out of basin restoration talks, blasted the deal, saying the Bush administration was imposing a lot of conditions favorable to PacifiCorp and punting a problem it had failed to resolve in eight years.

"This saddles Congress and saddles the Obama administration with this mess here," said spokesman Steve Pedery. "I think this doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense with just two months left in the Bush administration."

Salmon advocates have been pressing to remove the dams since 2002, when a decision by the Bush administration to restore irrigation water to farmers during a drought led to low river flows blamed for killing 70,000 Klamath salmon.

The year before, water was cut off to most of the farms on the Klamath Reclamation Project to assure threatened coho salmon in the Klamath had enough water, leading to angry protests by farmers, who were embraced by the Bush administration.

Built between 1908 and 1962, the four dams block salmon from 300 miles of spawning habitat while producing enough electricity to power about 70,000 homes.

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for PacifiCorp to justify continued operations. The Klamath has historically been the third largest salmon producer on the West Coast, and the collapse of salmon fisheries has shut down commercial fishing up and down the coast.

Meanwhile, federal biologists mandated that fish ladders and other improvements costing $300 million be added to the dams before a federal operating license could be renewed. California water authorities have been taking a hard look at the dams' role in toxic algae plaguing the river, and river advocates have sued PacifiCorp to fix the algae problem.

The dams warm the water to near-lethal temperatures for fish, and are a breeding ground for toxic algae that feed off the fertilizer and cow manure washing off farmlands. Slack water also serves as a breeding ground for parasites that kill young salmon.

Last January, farmers, Indian tribes, conservation groups and salmon fishermen came to agreement on a $1 billion plan for restoring salmon in the Klamath Basin, and guaranteeing farmers water, cheap electricity and permission to lease lands on national wildlife refuges. But it lacked an agreement from PacifiCorp to remove the dams.

A report for the California Energy Commission said PacifiCorp could save $101 million over the next 30 years by removing the dams and buying replacement power, rather than upgrading the dams and reducing power production to meet modern standards for fish protection.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a subsidiary of billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., owns PacifiCorp, which serves 1.6 million customers in six Western states.

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.