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The impending Klamath pact creates a future out of chaos
By The Oregonian Editorial Board
January 13, 2010
The architects of the settlement aimed at
restoring the Klamath River to salmon-bearing health say
they stand on the precipice of a new, more collaborative
age in the Klamath Basin.
Anyone who stopped watching after the headlines faded away in the bitter 2001 war involving environmentalists, commercial fishing interests, ranchers, farmers, Native American tribes and a bevy of federal and state agencies would find it hard to believe that things have risen to this point. But years of monstrously complicated negotiations, shepherded by the nonprofit Sustainable Northwest, have produced a settlement among the main combatants. Now in its final form, the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement -- all 396 pages of it -- is circulating among the 54 organizations involved for final signoffs.
Nothing is ever over until it's over, of course, but it's great news that the negotiators have arrived at this stage. For some hard-line environmental groups on one side, and some (but not all, by far) upper Klamath ranchers on the other, the agreement is deficient. It remains to be seen whether those groups can somehow be brought on board a train that is clearly barreling down the track, but nothing this complicated is likely to generate 100 percent approval.
For most, though, there could be no better solution than this pact. When it is signed it will be a true achievement and a valid, useful blueprint for the future. Beyond that, the process and result should serve as a model for resolving other seemingly intractable arguments around the country.
The future could also produce stumbling blocks from the various governments and agencies involved. Substantial financial guarantees -- totaling close to $1 billion from various sources -- and programmatic support will be needed to make the whole thing work.
But the legislatures of Oregon and California, not to mention Congress, need to look at any costs required by the settlement in light of the costs of having no agreement at all. What will cost least and benefit the various communities the most? Certainly not a future full of litigation, disagreement and discord.
None of this would work without PacifiCorp's forward-looking decision to remove the four dams it operates on the Klamath, rather than attempt to re-license them. That decision, too, involves a great deal of risk (even with the utility protected, as it has insisted upon, against damages resulting from dam removal), cost and uncertainty to the company and its customers.
Again, the benefit of an accord should be weighed against the likelihood of further chaos.
In one sense, the process really only begins with the settlement. But the settlement of one of the most bitter and complicated disputes in the history of the West finally provides a platform on which the Klamath Basin can rebuild its future.
Anyone who stopped watching after the headlines faded away in the bitter 2001 war involving environmentalists, commercial fishing interests, ranchers, farmers, Native American tribes and a bevy of federal and state agencies would find it hard to believe that things have risen to this point. But years of monstrously complicated negotiations, shepherded by the nonprofit Sustainable Northwest, have produced a settlement among the main combatants. Now in its final form, the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement -- all 396 pages of it -- is circulating among the 54 organizations involved for final signoffs.
Nothing is ever over until it's over, of course, but it's great news that the negotiators have arrived at this stage. For some hard-line environmental groups on one side, and some (but not all, by far) upper Klamath ranchers on the other, the agreement is deficient. It remains to be seen whether those groups can somehow be brought on board a train that is clearly barreling down the track, but nothing this complicated is likely to generate 100 percent approval.
For most, though, there could be no better solution than this pact. When it is signed it will be a true achievement and a valid, useful blueprint for the future. Beyond that, the process and result should serve as a model for resolving other seemingly intractable arguments around the country.
The future could also produce stumbling blocks from the various governments and agencies involved. Substantial financial guarantees -- totaling close to $1 billion from various sources -- and programmatic support will be needed to make the whole thing work.
But the legislatures of Oregon and California, not to mention Congress, need to look at any costs required by the settlement in light of the costs of having no agreement at all. What will cost least and benefit the various communities the most? Certainly not a future full of litigation, disagreement and discord.
None of this would work without PacifiCorp's forward-looking decision to remove the four dams it operates on the Klamath, rather than attempt to re-license them. That decision, too, involves a great deal of risk (even with the utility protected, as it has insisted upon, against damages resulting from dam removal), cost and uncertainty to the company and its customers.
Again, the benefit of an accord should be weighed against the likelihood of further chaos.
In one sense, the process really only begins with the settlement. But the settlement of one of the most bitter and complicated disputes in the history of the West finally provides a platform on which the Klamath Basin can rebuild its future.
Comments:
Posted by
oldman5286
January 13, 2010, 11:40AM
I predict a river so damaged by silt,
floods and erosion, that it will be hundreds of
years before fish will be returning to spawn in
numbers that even come close to those seen today. As
shown in the removal of Savage Rapids Dam, on the
Rogue River, unexpected consequences will prove to
be negative and far beyond what anyone would have
forseen.
The Indian Tribes involved will truly miss the salmon when they find that there are no more left in the river for their use. Massive floods, down stream, will no longer be able to be controlled by the dams in question and physical damage and erosion will be the yearly norm. The power generated by those removed dams will have to be replaced by other means, probably risking more environmental damage than that being removed. The elimination of the impoundments above these dams will take away hundreds of beautiful lakeside home sites that will be abandoned and removed from the tax rolls. The area will suffer greatly from the loss of tourist dollars because there will no longer be a draw. How many of you readers have seen a drained lake? It will be years before anything grows on the parched, mud banks. The Klamath Basin is famous for its ability to produce crops. Take away the water and thousands of acres will no longer produce food for the tables of our ever increasing population. I know it's too late but I would pray that those who will be responsible for the destruction of so much would stop trying to just control and really look at the effect this decision will have over the next hundred years. I realise that there are those who will only see the good they strive for but there is another side to this coin. Please, be aware of this.
The Indian Tribes involved will truly miss the salmon when they find that there are no more left in the river for their use. Massive floods, down stream, will no longer be able to be controlled by the dams in question and physical damage and erosion will be the yearly norm. The power generated by those removed dams will have to be replaced by other means, probably risking more environmental damage than that being removed. The elimination of the impoundments above these dams will take away hundreds of beautiful lakeside home sites that will be abandoned and removed from the tax rolls. The area will suffer greatly from the loss of tourist dollars because there will no longer be a draw. How many of you readers have seen a drained lake? It will be years before anything grows on the parched, mud banks. The Klamath Basin is famous for its ability to produce crops. Take away the water and thousands of acres will no longer produce food for the tables of our ever increasing population. I know it's too late but I would pray that those who will be responsible for the destruction of so much would stop trying to just control and really look at the effect this decision will have over the next hundred years. I realise that there are those who will only see the good they strive for but there is another side to this coin. Please, be aware of this.
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