Yet as everyone knows, fewer hooks in the water won't replenish the once-mighty runs of chinook and coho in the Klamath, California's second-largest river. Salmon and other fish need viable habitat and clean, cool water. The emergence of a noxious algae bloom in Klamath reservoirs has again demonstrated that this river is sick.

As the Los Angeles Times recently noted in a five-part series, these algae blooms -- caused partly by man-made pollution -- threaten rivers and oceans worldwide. In the Klamath, fertilizers from farms on the Oregon-California border flow downstream. The reservoirs warm up the water and the nutrients, creating perfect conditions for noxious algae.

A company called PacifiCorp owns the hydroelectric dams that impound these reservoirs, which were created solely for power purposes. PacifiCorp is now going through a federal relicensing process. Indian tribes, environmental groups and state and federal wildlife agencies are exploring if the dams could be removed, both to improve water quality and to improve passage of salmon.

The relicensing process has been contentious, with lots of the usual finger-pointing we've seen on the Klamath for years. Yet all parties are close to an agreement.

They need to reach it soon. The Klamath will require millions of federal dollars for dam removal and other restoration plans, yet this basin faces competition. On the San Joaquin River, once warring parties are close to a restoration agreement.

Whoever gets there first will stand a better chance of impounding the congressional gravy.