Streamkeeper’s bLog – February 2016
Streamkeeper’s bLog – February 2016
Klamath Dams to Come Down; First Step Toward Watershed Recovery
A word from CalTrout’s ED, Curtis Knight
We welcomed the news earlier this month when it was announced that four Klamath River dams would be removed by 2020. The Agreement-in-Principle between PacifiCorp, the states of Oregon and California and federal agencies ensures that dam removal will move forward as envisioned by one of three companion settlement agreements that were signed by local stakeholders in 2010 and 2014.
CalTrout sees this as a critical step, but not the only step, in bolstering fish runs and sustaining communities in the Klamath Basin. (Read CalTrout encouraged by first step in path forward for Klamath). The three Klamath Agreements included not only plans for dam removal, but also an elaborate plan to divvy up limited water supplies while providing for environmental restoration throughout the basin. The package of negotiated Agreements required Congressional approval in order to take full effect. Unfortunately, the Agreement that provided for the majority of environmental restoration throughout the watershed – the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) – expired on December 31, 2015 without a vote from Congress. (For the history of the Agreements, read Klamath Crumbles in the December 2015 issue of The Current.)
The Klamath Agreements have been hailed for years as a model for developing a local solution to allocating limited water supplies in the West. Unfortunately, a small group of hardline conservatives, including Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), blocked the passage of legislation that would have enacted the Agreements. The lack of action from Congress before the KBRA expired threatened the entire package of agreements. But earlier this year PacifiCorp and other key stakeholders decided to amend the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement to find an alternative path for dam removal even though the full package of agreements can no longer move forward.
Some conservation groups and tribes are pleased with the current outcome. With the removal of four aging hydroelectric dams from the river, imperiled salmon and steelhead will regain access to 250 miles of spawning and rearing habitat. While improving fish passage is an essential step in recovering these native fish populations, however, it is just one piece of the recovery puzzle.
CalTrout continues to be a participating party in this new effort to amend the KHSA and supports the full package of terms that were negotiated by conservationists, commercial fishermen, tribes, farmers and ranchers, and state, local and federal agencies. Together, the three Klamath Agreements provided for environmental, cultural and economic sustainability throughout the Klamath Basin. While we celebrate the possibilities dam removal provides, we will continue to support efforts to implement as many of the bargained-for benefits as possible that were identified in the full settlement package. After all, at CalTrout we are firm believers that what’s good for the river is good not only for fish, but also for people.
Warm regards,
2 Comments
It is unfortunate that Cal Trout continues to promote Klamath water deals which please politicians but are not in the interest of the River and Klamath Salmon. The core problem is that under these deals irrigators get a fixed water allocation up front but in order for salmon to get restoration flows, willing sellers of water rights must be found and irrigation efficiency measures which have never resulted in more water in the Klamath River must suddenly produce a vast amount of water for fish.
Even if they were achievable under the KBRA water deal, which they are not, the flows salmon need would take decades to materialize. And right now most of the juvenile salmon migrating down the Klamath are diseased and only a small fraction live to make it to the ocean. And yet Cal Trout touts deals that will keep things this way for many years while refusing to challenge the biological opinion that is killing most of the young salmon right now.
One has got to wonder how an organization that once upon a time focused like a spotlight on what fish need became an organization that cares more about politics and pleasing politicians.
Felice,
You are entitled to your opinion, but there is a good reason why the groups that care about fish support the overall package–Karuk and Yurok tribes, commercial fisherman, CalTrout, Trout Unlimited, American River all support the flow package because it is best for fish.
The status quo is not working, time to try something new.