Copco Lake — It was standing room only at the Copco Lake Community Center on Thursday as about 50 people took what meeting facilitator Pam Jones called an “opportunity to ask, firsthand, what is going on with the science” of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA).
Representatives of the group performing dam removal studies for the Secretarial Determination made a presentation and answered questions during the informational meeting that was originally slated to last two hours and lasted over three and a half hours.

Program Manager Dennis Lynch began by offering some background on the subject. He explained that scoping studies have been conducted and the group is working with several agencies through the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements.

Lynch also spoke of independent science panels that have been formed  to evaluate studies on populations of lamprey, coho salmon and steelhead trout, Chinook salmon and resident fish.

The goals of the work are to fill in the information gaps, facilitate an open process and provide high-quality, peer-reviewed work, Lynch explained.

The group aims to answer three questions through their work, Lynch said: Is dam removal in the public interest; does it make sense? Can dam removal be done for the amount that has been set aside – $450 million? Will dam removal advance fisheries restoration?

“Our job is to help inform the secretary [of the Interior] about these set of facts ... so he can make a fully informed decision in March 2012,” Lynch said.

Public comments and questions spanned a number of topics, including the alleged secrecy of the meetings leading up to the formation of the agreements, interaction with local government and decreasing home/land values.

More than one commenter mentioned the recent vote on Measure G, an advisory question on the November ballot that asked county residents if they would like to see the JC Boyle, Copco 1 and 2, and Iron Gate dams removed from the Klamath River. A little more than 78 percent of voters said they would not like to see the dams removed.

Siskiyou County District 1 Supervisor Jim Cook also touched on another common concern – the lack of a provision in the agreements that says if private land adjacent to the dams is transferred to the state landowners will be compensated.

“Property owners are in limbo,” Linda Ebert said. “If this happens, we don’t know what our shore front will look like, be like, smell like.”

The land would be used for habitat restoration, education and public recreation access, according to Renee Snyder of the Bureau of Land Management.

Fire suppression, reservoirs, tribal rights, the affect on people downstream and a lack of representation was also addressed.

Lynch assured the crowd that their voices are being heard.

“Those agreements are what they are. ... This team is asked to look at those agreements. ... We are listening to you in terms of how we analyze those agreements and how we look at the information that we’re reflecting on and moving forward to the secretary so he can make a proper decision about it.”

Another informational meeting was held Thursday night in Yreka. Check Monday’s edition of the Daily News for coverage of that meeting.

– Jamie Gentner can be reached at jgentner@siskiyoudaily.com