Klamath, Calif. — Another pro-Klamath dam removal tribal government has joined the voices of opposition to the two agreements that lay out the potential removal of the dams.

The Resighini Rancheria Tribal Council released a press release recently stating that while the tribe wants the dams removed, it does not believe that the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) and Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) will achieve that end.

Among the tribe’s concerns is the lack of guaranteed dam removal and the prediction that if the dams are removed, the removal will not start until 2020.

Some of the concerns expressed in the Resighini release are not new to the debate, as the Hoopa Valley Tribe has also stated its support for quick dam removal and opposition to the KHSA.

The Hoopa Tribe was recently denied an appeal hearing from the United States Court of Appeals on its request to have the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission institute interim measures on dam owner PacifiCorp – conditions that would have likely reduced the dams’ power production.

The release notes that the Resighini Rancheria has expressly adopted many of the objections raised by the Hoopa Tribe, including objecting to the requirement that the states of California and Oregon concur in the decision of whether or not the dams are removed, the belief that the KHSA’s delaying of dam relicensing proceedings is delaying dam removal and the proposed $27 million in “additional value to customers” to PacifiCorp if the dams are to be removed starting January 1, 2020.

According to the release, the Resighini Rancheria also believes that a number of provisions laid out in the KBRA – such as promised agricultural water deliveries, salmon restoration efforts and flows to Upper Klamath Lake – are ill-defined or are unsupportable.

In a similar vein, the expert Coho salmon panel reviewing possible effects of the agreements on Coho salmon recently suggested in its report that effects from implementation of the KBRA would be hard to assess without clearer statements of what the restoration plans and flow requirements are.

“Though the Council was excluded from participating in the development of the agreeements, after months of study and review of the KHSA and KBRA, along with numerous scientific reports and studies by private organizations and tribal, state and federal government agencies, including reports by the Tribe’s fisheries biologist and hydrologist retained to assist them in evaluating the agreements, the Council concluded the agreements are not in the public interest, and if implemented that they will not restore salmon and other fish species to near historical levels,” the release states.

A determination of whether or not the dams will be removed is expected by next year, with studies currently underway to inform that decision.

– David Smith can be reached at dsmith@siskiyoudaily.com