Oregon regulators vote to remove Chiloquin Dam

9/26/2006 The Associated Press

CHILOQUIN, Ore. (AP) — Officials have decided to remove the Chiloquin dam, which blocks the passage of endangered Lost River and short-nosed suckers to spawning areas up the Sprague River.

The Modoc Point Irrigation District voted to remove the structure last week and met Monday to ratify the vote.

Removing the dam was identified as a key project for helping endangered suckers after the Endangered Species Act forced irrigation water to be shut off to most of the 1,000 farms on the Klamath Reclamation Project during a 2001 drought. The move was intended to maintain water levels in Upper Klamath Lake — the project's main reservoir and the primary habitat of the suckers.

The U.S. Department of the Interior will pay for removal of the 92-year-old dam. The agency also will pay to install a new pumping station, and will give the district a $2.4-million to create a fund to pay for operation and maintenance of the pump station.

"We're excited," said Irrigation district board member Pete Bourdet. "This is what we've worked for. I personally have spent the last two years working on this."

Bourdet said proponents of dam removal were confident the vote would go their way, although he expressed relief that the issue has finally been decided.

John Richardson, a landowner and member of the irrigation district, said having federal funds to do the job was too good a chance to pass up.

"Why would you want to be driving a 1932 Ford if you could have a Cadillac?" he said. "I think it's time for the district to get into the 21st century."

Bureau of Indian Affairs officials who studied the dam considered upgrading fish ladders to help endangered fish species. However, they decided removing the dam was the most efficient plan.

The Klamath Tribes once depended on the fish as a primary source of food, and each spring they hold a ceremony to assure its continued well being.

Modoc Point Irrigation District officials will meet with Bureau of Indian Affairs Oct. 2 to formally sign a document authorizing the dam's removal.

Federal officials have said the pump station must be tested and found to work adequately before the dam will be removed.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., has estimated the cost of removing the dam and replacing it with a pump station on the Williamson River at $15 million to $16 million.

Under the federal timeline, construction of the new pump station will begin in April 2007. It is scheduled for completion in June 2008.

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