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Talks on dam removal moving forward
Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement stakeholders met Thursday and Friday with PacifiCorp officials to talk about removal of four dams on the Klamath River. Removal of the dams is instrumental to implementation of the agreement, which allocates water among interest groups, irrigators and tribes in the Klamath River Basin
Following is an update:
Craig Tucker, spokesman for Karuk Tribe
Tucker said restoration agreement talks and developments are moving slowly, but in a positive direction.
He attended the stakeholder meeting with PacifiCorp in Portland and anticipates stakeholders will meet the June 30 deadline to have a final dam removal agreement drafted and signed.
“We’re just having a lot of meetings and working out the details,” he said.
Art Sasse, PacifiCorp spokesman
Sasse declined to comment about how discussions with stakeholders are proceeding, citing a continuing confidentiality agreement.
“But I can say we continue to meet and continue to make meaningful progress,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Greg Addington, executive director Klamath Water Users Association
Addington said last week that the task for stakeholders now includes deciding what studies need to be done to determine if dam removal is the best step. They also are developing final langauge for dam removal and restoration agreements.
He is optimistic that progress will continue and that issues surrounding water and power, which his group is most interested in, will be addressed.
“It’s interesting because for so many years it’s been the restoration stuff,” he said.
Glenn Spain, regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations
Spain attended the meeting with PacifiCorp and is optimistic that stakeholders will move forward professionally and efficiently to draft a final dam removal agreement as well as tie up loose ends with the restoration agreement.
“We’re all basically on the same map and just deciding which way to go,” he said.
Tom Mallams, Klamath Off Project Water Users
Members of Mallams’ group did not sign confidentiality agreements to continue meeting with stakeholders about dam removal and therefore did not attend the meeting with PacifiCorp last week.
He and others planned to meet with an official
from the U.S. Department of the Interior, but he
would not comment on what was discussed.
Jillian Schoene, spokeswoman, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski
Schoene said the governor’s office is pleased with how restoration agreement talks have progressed, but she said it is too early in the process to provide any other news. The governor hopes to reach a final dam removal agreement by the June deadline.
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml