FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oregon, California Coalition Unveils Streamlined Plan for Klamath Dam Removal

Groups push for expedited timeline and overhaul of water deal

While Klamath Settlement negotiations drag on and the river continues to suffer, local coalition pushes for quicker action, more help for fish and wildlife.

Contact:
Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild, 503.283.6343 ext 212
Bob Hunter, WaterWatch, 541.826.4399
Jay Wright, NEC, 707-834-3433

A newly formed coalition of local conservation, wildlife, and river advocacy groups announced opposition today to two draft agreements related to management of the Klamath River and its dams. The Klamath Conservation Partners released new alternate legislation aimed at streamlining the dam removal provisions in the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement and severing the hydropower decommissioning agreement from controversial and costly measures contained in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.

“The old settlement process has run its course,” said Jay Wright with the Northcoast Environmental Center, a group that left the negotiations this month. “Groups that support the dam deal and water deal have their hearts in the right place, but at this point, they are pursuing a deal just to get a deal. What the Klamath needs is the right deal. And that’s what today’s announcement is about.”

In a Guidance Statement and related draft legislation released by the group, the Klamath Conservation Partners call for:

• Improved dam removal legislation to move forward independent of the proposed KBRA
• The timeline for dam removal to be shortened significantly and for the Secretary of Interior to submit a decommissioning plan by 2012
• Dam removal to be funded through PacifiCorp customer contribution of $200 million (already passed through the Oregon legislature) and an independent $250 million general obligation bond in the State of California with a contingency plan for the federal government to contribute this amount if the bond fails
• Interim dam operation conditions that provide for the adequate protection of fish, wildlife, water quality, and other aquatic resources

The proposed alternate dam removal legislation attempts to solve some of the major problems with the current draft deal. The draft KHSA sets an unspecified future date (beyond 2020) for dam removal after a feasibility study is completed by 2012. Independent analyses have already documented much of the economic and ecological rationale behind dam removal, making the added studies and delayed timeline unnecessary. Furthermore, under the terms of the current draft KHSA, PacifiCorp can continue to profit from dam operations with minimal interim conditions to fix poor water quality and aid struggling salmon.

Even more controversial is the linkage between the KHSA and the KBRA, a nearly $1 billion water deal drafted over the last six years and heavily influenced by former Bush administration officials. The settlement scheme would guarantee water for commercial agriculture in the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Irrigation Project without providing a similar guarantee to threatened fish species. The KBRA would also lock in damaging commercial agriculture on 22,000 acres of land inside the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges.

“By setting aside some of the more controversial issues in the Basin, we can finally let dam removal sink or swim on its own,” said Steve Pedery, Conservation Director with Oregon Wild. “We are confident an improved hydro deal can swim – and so will the salmon.”

The Hoopa Valley Tribe of northern California opposes the KHSA and KBRA proposals citing the deals’ lack of guaranteed water for fish and a waiver of rights, among other concerns. The Tribe strongly advocates for dam removal, but is expected to formally reject the KHSA/KBRA draft proposals in January.

“For years, people on the river have recognized the need to remove the dams on the Klamath,” added John DeVoe, Executive Director of WaterWatch of Oregon. “It would be a disaster if we missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore a river because we burdened the dam removal proposal with expensive and controversial anti-wildlife measures.”

See the Klamath Conservation Partners Guidance Statement.

See the proposed streamlined dam removal legislation.

For more background on the faults of the KBRA, click here.

See a flow chart depicting all of the “off-ramps” in the KHSA.

To see a timeline of Klamath dam removal negotiations, click here.

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