A plan to unleash the Klamath River

In the Western water wars, it's the equivalent of the Berlin Wall coming down. That's how important the demolition of four dams on the salmon-starved Klamath River will be if a promising agreement is carried out.

The preliminary pact, which will take four years of study leading to dam removals starting in 2020, will be the biggest dam removal project on record. Just as monumental is the political win: the deal ends a standoff pitting dozens of interest groups involved with a river running through Oregon and California.

But it also puts down a marker: If the right conditions can be found for fish, water users and power generators, there's a way to pull these concrete fixtures from another era and curb the damage done.

The announced deal was partly foretold by the river's dismal recent history. No one - including government agencies, Indian tribes, environmentalists, farmers or the owner of the dams - was happy.

Water diversions in 2001 angered downstream groups. The next year, salmon died by the thousands because of trickling flows of warm dam water. Following that, the PacifiCorp power firm, which owns the dams, was facing a $300 million bill for federally ordered fish ladders.

The deal, strung out across 12 years, hinges on scientific and financial studies of the effects of taking down the dams dating back nearly a century. Also, it caps the monetary risks to PacifiCorp and requires a $250 million bond measure for California taxpayers.

Though the pact comes with the blessing and help of the Bush administration, it ends a sorry chapter in political meddling that diverted vital water for Oregon farmers and deepened the Klamath crisis.

The path forward will be a challenge. Reviving salmon runs, taking out power dams, and restoring miles of neglected riverbed have never been attempted on a Klamath-sized scale. Now it's time to try.