Deal paves way for dams' removal on Western river

By JEFF BARNARD

November 13, 2008

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — An agreement signed Thursday lays the groundwork for removing four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River to help one of the West Coast's most beleaguered salmon runs and end a longstanding environmental dispute.

Removal of the PacifiCorp dams is expected to begin by 2020. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in a conference call that President George W. Bush had told officials "to find a collaborative solution" that doesn't pit one interest group against another.

The Bush administration had strongly backed farmers in 2001 after the Endangered Species Act forced the shut-off of irrigation water to thousands of acres of farms to leave enough for threatened salmon.

When the administration restored irrigation in 2002 over the objections of tribes and conservation groups, low water conditions in the Klamath River led to the deaths of 70,000 adult salmon returning to spawn.

"We were motivated to find a solution because we've seen how bad it can be," Kempthorne said. "Nobody wanted to say, 'It's beyond our abilities to solve this.'"

The nonbinding agreement signed by Kempthorne, PacifiCorp and the governors of Oregon and California calls for a final agreement by June 30, 2009, and gives the federal government until 2012 to figure out whether removing the dams is feasible. It sets 2020 as the deadline for starting to remove the dams but does not include a deadline for finishing the job.

Costs will be capped at $450 million, with PacifiCorp liable for $200 million through future rate increases.

Indications are that removal will not be a problem and that costs will be far less, said Steve Rothert of the conservation group American Rivers. Studies for the California State Coastal Conservancy found little toxic material in sediment behind the dams and estimated that removal would cost closer to $100 million.

The lengthy timetable gives time to build up an adequate fund to cover costs and develop replacement energy, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said. During that time, PacifiCorp will adjust dam operations to benefit fish and give California $500,000 a year for habitat restoration.

In a statement released by the White House, Bush said the agreement for the dams turns "what was a conflict into a conservation success."

"Together, we have produced an agreement that will greatly reduce the risk of future shutdowns of the irrigation system," he said. "I applaud this example of cooperative conservation and thank everyone who worked to bring it about."

Kulongoski called the deal "a model for the rest of the country of how federal and state governments and private individuals can all work together."

Kempthorne added that the agreement was an effort to help a private company make a good business decision and should not be taken as an indication that the Bush administration is changing its position opposing removal of four federally owned hydroelectric dams on the Salmon River in eastern Washington to help salmon.

While appreciative of the Bush administration's efforts since last spring to work out a deal with PacifiCorp, Rothert said, "I think we would have gotten more sleep over the last two years if they had engaged sooner."

Pressure has been building for years on the dams' owner, PacifiCorp, to make a deal. California's and Oregon's governors pressed for dam removal after commercial salmon fisheries collapsed in 2006 because of poor Klamath River returns.

Farmers, tribes, fishermen and conservation groups started three years ago on the heavy lifting of overcoming their differences to find a solution they all could live with, resulting in their Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement signed last January, Rothert said. That agreement included resolutions of long-standing conflicts such as irrigation and river flows, while lacking the key ingredient of removing the dams.