Supervisors conditionally approval Klamath agreement 

Jessie Faulkner

The Times-Standard

February 20, 2008

EUREKA -- The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to conditionally approve the Klamath Basin Agreement -- once the separate agreement on the dam removal has been reached.

At the earlier request of the supervisors, Public Works Department Director Tom Mattson -- with the assistance of retired Deputy Public Works Director Don Tuttle -- reviewed the agreement and presented three conclusions to the supervisors:

* that the agreement did not jeopardize the board's local control;

* that the increased flow in the river would not adversely affect public works facilities; and

* that language in the agreement may force the county to reallocate waterway restoration dollars to the Klamath.

The latter raised concern among board members about the ability to prioritize the use of existing rehabilitation dollars.

After further discussion, the focus on reallocation of rehabilitation dollars was clarified as dealing with newly acquired federal and state funds - not monies already granted, according to Yurok Tribe attorney John Corbett.

The objective, Corbett said, was for all involved parties to go to Congress to seek funding.

”It was intended to be new money,” Corbett said. “We're after new monies, not old monies.”

Yurok Tribal Chair Maria Tripp also encouraged the board's approval of the Klamath Basin agreement.

The agreement, Tripp said, restores the fish and the river without giving away sovereign rights. The tribe's support of the agreement, she said, came after extensive consultation with tribal members.

”The Yurok Tribe has no other river -- (there's) no more important battle,” she said.

Fifth District Supervisor Jill Geist -- who has been attending years of meetings leading up the agreement -- acknowledged that asking for conditional approval of the agreement is venturing into uncharted territory.

River advocate Denver Nelson of Eureka urged the supervisors to approve the agreement and praised Geist's attendance at the numerous meetings that led to the agreement's semi-final form.

While not convinced that taking out the dams will restore the river's fisheries, Nelson reminded the board that the license for those dams lasts 50 years. If its not done now, it won't be for another 50 years.

The Klamath Basin Agreement, a lengthy effort to balance the agricultural water needs in the upper basin with restoring flows for the health of the fisheries, first came before the board Jan. 22 and was continued until this week.

PacificCorp -- owner of the dams on the Klamath -- is currently asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to relicense its dams.

Jessie Faulkner can be reached at 441-0517 or jfaulkner@times-standard.com.

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Source:  http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_8311894