PacifiCorp accepts fish ladder mandate

February 8, 2007

Klamath Falls Herald and News

By Steve Kadel

PacifiCorp has agreed to install fish ladders and screens at four dams on the Klamath River, paving the way for salmon to return to the Upper Klamath Basin.

The utility announced Wednesday it will comply with last week's mandates from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Those agencies require ladders and screens as a condition for PacifiCorp to renew its license to operate the dams. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will make a final relicensing decision, including what stipulations will be placed on PacifiCorp.

PacifiCorp officials had asked FERC to allow trucking of fish upstream around dams, but that request was rejected by the two federal bodies.

Cost, timeline uncertain

PacifiCorp spokesman Dave Kvamme said construction of ladders and installation of screens will cost about $300 million. An exact cost won't be known until PacifiCorp gets closer to construction, he said.

“The timing for construction fish ladders and screens would be tied to completion of FERC's relicensing process,” Kvamme said. “When that wraps up is anybody's guess. FERC has its own timetable for that kind of thing.”

FERC is in the process of compiling a final environmental impact statement. Information in the document will be part of the record from which FERC will make its decision.

However, Kvamme said PacifiCorp is still hopeful that settlement talks between the utility, fishermen, Tribes and other stakeholders will yield “sensible” and less expensive solutions for fish passage.

PacifiCorp Energy president Bill Fehrman said in a news release the utility does not have enough electricity generating capacity to supply its customers' needs. That's why PacifiCorp values the Klamath River hydro project, which supplies electricity for 70,000 homes.

Dam removal proponents, including the Karuk Tribe of California, say studies by the state of California and the U.S. Department of Interior show it would be $100 million cheaper to remove the dams and buy extra electricity elsewhere.

Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker said dam removal makes better economic sense for rate payers. He said PacifiCorp will “gouge” rate payers by passing along ladder and screen construction costs “with a guaranteed rate of return for stockholders.”

Tucker hopes California and Oregon public utility commissions require PacifiCorp to provide fish passage for the lowest cost, which would be dam removal.

The four Klamath River dams in question generate 2 percent of PacifiCorp's energy production.

Fish ladders and screens will be installed at Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2 and Iron Gate dams in California, and at J.C. Boyle Dam in Oregon under PacifiCorp's agreement.