Dam Removal Survey

The Legislative delegation from Klamath County continues to receive large volumes of emails, letters and calls regarding both the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Agreement in Principle (AIP) to remove the four PacifiCorp owned hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. The preponderance of the correspondence from Klamath County received by our offices has been in opposition. In fact, the level of opposition to Senate Bill 76-A in our correspondence has been remarkable.

During the same period, legislative committees have heard testimony from the Governor’s Office, PacifiCorp, Sustainable Northwest, the Klamath Water Users Association and others that little if any opposition exists to these two agreements. They suggest that the passage of SB 76-A will begin the process of healing and will initiate “peace on the river.”

Representatives Garrard and Gilman, and myself have commissioned and paid for a professional poll to scientifically determine the nature of the opinions of Klamath County citizens on these matters. We asked Target Market Strategies to poll Klamath County registered voters regarding specific features of the agreements and of SB 76-A. The objectives were to measure public support for removal of the Klamath River Dams and associated issues including determination of attitudes toward the Klamath Tribes relative to the KBRA. The professional polling company developed the questions and polled 300 randomly selected individuals registered to vote in Klamath County. The random selection included Democrats, Independents, Republicans and all others registered to vote. The poll was conducted by telephone during May 6-13, 2009. The poll is determined to be statistically accurate at plus or minus 5.7 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

The results of the poll clearly confirm the extent of the opposition that seemed apparent in our correspondence from Klamath County residents.  The format for the poll, the questions asked, and all the answers given are attached in a document for your review. Some specifics results indicate that:

• 65 percent are opposed to dam removal
• 68 percent are opposed to public purchase of reservation land for the Tribes
• 73 percent are opposed to the closed and confidential negotiations involved in developing the KBRA and the AIP
• 58 percent are unwilling to paying higher electric rates as the result of the shift to renewable energy or dam removal
• 83 percent are very or somewhat concerned that these agreements will provide the Tribes with too much control over Klamath Basin water