An agreement to resolve long-standing arguments about water in the Klamath River basin of southern Oregon and northern California could lead to the removal of four dams.
The deal, which is spread across two separate legal agreements and which was entered into by about 30 organizations representing fishers, farmers, environmentalists and native Americans, aims to protect the basin's struggling wild salmon populations while assuring a reliable supply of irrigation water and hydropower to farmers.
It was announced at a news conference at the Oregon state capitol in Salem. California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Interior secretary Ken Salazar joined Oregon's Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski for the unveiling.
The Klamath River was dammed more than 100 years ago, mostly to provide hydroelectricity to the rural region. The water backed up in the reservoirs created by the four dams, now owned by PacificCorp, has been diverted for irrigation use by farmers.
If the dams are removed, which under the plan could happen no earlier than 2020, then salmon would have access once again to upstream spawning grounds.
Their disappearance would also reduce pollution in the basin's waters. The stagnant water in the reservoirs created by the dams is toxic as a result of the propensity of algae to breed there.
Before the dams, which include J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Irongate, can be removed, the Interior department will have to certify that restoration of the river to its natural state would restore wild salmon runs and is in the public interest. The secretary of the Interior must make that determination by March 31, 2012.
Additionally, Congress will have to appropriate the funds needed for the project.
The total cost to implement the plan, about $1.5 billion, would be shared among PacificCorp ratepayers, the states of Oregon and California, and the federal government.
The agreement would continue to permit farmers to draw water from the Klamath River. It would also keep the door open for filling of wetlands in the watershed, a provision that some environmentalists argue undermines the agreement's entire goal of salmon recovery and permit continued harm to the basin's famous migratory bird population.
Nor would the pact require farmers or government to reduce the non-point source water pollution entering the river from the large number of farms in the area. Such agricultural pollution is not regulated by the nation's principal water quality protection law.
That polluted water, which contains large amounts of pesticides and nitrates, can kill salmon as far as 100 miles downstream.
The battles over water in the Klamath River basin led, most recently, to controversy in the early years of this decade when federal water managers first reduced irrigation deliveries to farmers and then, after President George W. Bush took office, opened the floodgates to them. That in turn caused one of the largest fish kills in the history of the region.
Historically, the Klamath River basin was the third-most productive breeding area for Pacific salmon. In recent years the stocks of chinook and coho salmon native to the basin have declined precipitously and some of the coho runs have been listed by the U.S. government as endangered species.
Klamath River basin map courtesy U.S. government.
