A promising first milestone for Klamath dam removal 

If Wednesday's ambitious Klamath Basin agreement holds up -- and that's something worth hoping for -- the result will be historic.

It would pave the way for the biggest dam removal and salmon recovery project in the nation. More important, it could resolve one of the most complicated, seemingly intractable water disputes in the history of the American West.

The agreement announced Wednesday by the Bush administration faces plenty of hurdles before it can become binding. It's already a promising milestone, however, in that it represents the first strong indication that the Portland-based utility PacifiCorp is willing to accept removal of four dams it owns in the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and Northern California.

This is the troubled region where emotions became inflamed in 2001 when the federal government shut off water to farms to help beleaguered Klamath River salmon and other fish. And it's the region where a whole new controversy erupted the following year when 70,000 adult salmon died in the shrunken river after irrigation water was restored.

The groundwork for the announcement was laid in January when a coalition of competing interests announced a breakthrough proposal for Klamath Basin restoration. Two years in the making, the proposal was crafted by a score of negotiators representing irrigators, salmon fishermen, tribes, conservationists and government agencies.

Initially, we had doubts about the settlement's viability, given that PacifiCorp had been left out of the talks. But state and federal representatives who did take part subsequently worked with the utility to come up with the agreement unveiled Wednesday.

PacifiCorp deserves kudos for its flexibility and willingness to come to the settlement table. Ultimately, this flexibility should benefit the utility's ratepayers and shareholders, as it may make better economic sense to decommission the four dams rather than spend $300 million on fish ladders and other improvements the government would require for relicensing.

The deal calls for starting dam removal by 2020. That leaves PacifiCorp time to find a source of replacement power, preferably carbon-neutral like that now produced by the hydroelectric dams.

In the meantime, the utility agrees to pay $500,000 a year for fish habitat improvements until the dams are removed. It's also encouraging to see that the dam removal costs to be borne by ratepayers would create surcharges not exceeding $20 a year to PacifiCorp's 500,000 customers in Oregon.

That's about $1.65 a month that many hard-pressed people might not like seeing on their electric bills. It's important to remember, however, that all parties to the Klamath Basin agreement had to sacrifice something, especially the farmers and fishermen.

Here's hoping this is a deal that not only sticks but also becomes a model for water disputes throughout the West.