WASHINGTON – An
agreement to restore the Klamath River so that it would once
again teem with salmon was unveiled Tuesday, but it lacked
one crucial element – removal of four hydroelectric dams
that have slowed its waters and helped breed fish-killing
disease.
The $950 million deal would double spending on the sick
river system over the next decade and give Klamath basin
farmers in southern Oregon guaranteed irrigation water while
also sending more water downriver to support fish runs.
Advocates said the deal is contingent upon separate
negotiations with Portland-based PacifiCorp to dismantle the
dams, which would free water to replenish the river system.
But the utility could not say how seriously it is
considering doing that. Federal regulators are in the last
stages of relicensing the dams for another 50 years.
PacifiCorp spokesman Paul Vogel said the company is
"negotiating with any number of folks" over the fate of the
dams but dismissed Tuesday's announcement because the
company was specifically excluded from the negotiations.
"It is difficult to believe that it can be called
comprehensive when 700,000 of our customers were not in the
room," Vogel said.
Parties to the deal, including farmers, irrigation
districts, Indian tribes and fishermen, hope an agreement
for removal of the dams can be reached within a month or two
to give them time to lobby Congress for final approval.
Participants in the closed talks were largely
enthusiastic.
"It's a major step forward on solving some of the most
intractable water problems in the West," said Glen Spain of
the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations,
which represents commercial salmon fishermen. "At no time
has there been so much unanimity on the river."
Craig Tucker of Northern California's Karuk tribe, a key
player in the talks, said the deal will "give fish 300 miles
of spawning habitat, increase river flows and do it in a way
that that allows farms and fish to survive."
Under the deal, additional water would come into the
system through new storage, breaching of some levees,
tighter controls on agricultural diversions and retirement
of water rights.
But some environmentalists, who also were not part of the
26 parties negotiating the final agreement, called it a
"half a deal" that will burden federal taxpayers with
millions of dollars for economic assistance unrelated to
fish restoration.
"There is some good stuff in here for the river," said
Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild. "But this is a lot of money –
$1 billion for every special interest in the Klamath basin."
Some participants, including the Hoopa tribe, were
balking at the deal. Other participants are public agencies
that will have to hold public hearings before casting a vote
on the deal. Tuesday's announcement makes the agreement
public so that those public discussions can begin.