Feds demand little more than status quo on troubled river

Pulling out two dams could significantly improve conditions for salmon on the Klamath River, according to an analysis by federal energy regulators released Monday. But that's not what they're recommending.

Instead, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposes to modify dam owner Pacificorp's proposal to operate the Klamath hydro project for the next 50 years. That would include trapping adult salmon and moving them above the dams, then capturing young fish and moving them below the dams, like an artificial migration.

It would also mean possible engineering fixes for the wounded waterway, such as modifying Iron Gate Dam to send cooler water downstream, mildly altering flows in areas, and installing devices to pump air into oxygen-poor water.

The massive draft Environmental Impact Statement was issued before a ruling from an administrative law judge on federal fish and wildlife agencies' demands that fish ladders be built over the dams, and that screens be installed to keep young fish from being killed by turbines.

FERC chose not to fully analyze taking out all four dams that block many salmon from reaching spawning grounds, something many fishermen, tribes and conservation groups want. Poor runs of salmon on the Klamath have long subdued seasons and quotas for river anglers and commercial and sport fishermen on the West Coast. This year, the fishery was declared a multimillion-dollar failure.

”What else do you have to do to prove these dams are worthless that we haven't already done?” said Craig Tucker with the Karuk Tribe, which lives on the middle Klamath and has seen subsistence fishing opportunities evaporate.

Tucker said that FERC doesn't have the authority to overstep the recommendations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fish ladders and screens could cost $200 million or more, and FERC found that it would be substantially more expensive than taking out Iron Gate and Copco I dams.

FERC must impose the conditions that the fisheries agencies -- and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management -- demand.

”They know that at the end of the day, it has to be included in the license,” said Fish and Wildlife Program Analyst David Diamond. “They have no discretion whatsoever.”

But those conditions could be affected by the ruling of the administrative law judge, who is expected to pass down his decision by the end of the month. Diamond said FERC obviously didn't find it important to wait for the judge's ruling.

Pacificorp spokesman Dave Kvamme also voiced some concern over the release of the document before the judge's decision. Pacificorp disputes the value of habitat between the dams to salmon, and so objects to the fisheries agencies' requirement for fish ladders. While the company is still reviewing the analysis, Kvamme said, it is certain that it will have to make major investments in the project if it gets a new license.

”The question is are those things going to be effective for helping fish?” Kvamme said.

But Troy Fletcher, a consultant with the Yurok Tribe, which has both subsistence and commercial fisheries for salmon on the lower river, wondered how FERC could leave dam removal out of the equation. He said it takes only a partial stab at the wide range of problems on the Klamath.

”FERC's meager reintroduction plan fails to take into consideration all the species that the agencies' terms and conditions address, such as spring salmon and lamprey eel,” Fletcher said.

California Resources Agency spokesman Sandy Cooney said the state remains committed to restoring the Klamath -- something he said is beyond the scope of FERC or the environmental document.

”What FERC has done here, while it's within its prerogative, is take the easy way out,” Cooney said.

The California Coastal Conservancy has found that removing the four lowermost dams on the Klamath is both feasible and affordable, said program manager Michael Bowen. Worries about how much sediment is behind the dams, and whether the muck contains toxins, have been eased under the conservancy's determination, he said.

”It's like the Western world is trying to restore Klamath salmon, and all that FERC and Pacificorp can come up with is a Jacuzzi and a spruced-up campground,” Bowen said.