Reznet

Indians, Others Briefed on Dam Removal

By Jeff Barnard

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Farmers, Indian tribes, fishermen and state officials were briefed Wednesday on a nonbinding agreement for PacifiCorp to turn over control of four Klamath River dams so they can be removed to help struggling salmon.

While not a final answer, the deal represents a milestone toward what would become the biggest dam removal project in U.S. history, ultimately removing obstacles that for a century have kept fish from the upper reaches of the third-biggest salmon producer on the West Coast.

The briefing by Bush administration officials who negotiated the agreement in principal took place Wednesday in Sacramento, Calif., where a formal signing ceremony was scheduled Thursday.

According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the 17-page agreement is a roadmap for turning the dams over to a nonfederal entity and starting to remove them by 2020.

Financial, environmental roadblocks remain

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 some 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."

Timing questioned, politics alleged

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.

Since then, the collapse of salmon runs in the Klamath and Sacramento rivers has led to closures of salmon commercial and recreational fishing up and down the West Coast.

Dams have blocked access to 300 miles of spawning area

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

But 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 called for fish ladders and other improvements costing $300 million to 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 block about 300 miles of spawning habitat, 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.

Jeff Barnard is the Associated Press' environmental writer.