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Stakeholders ask for
Klamath talk delay,
Dams subject of
closed-door talks
Tam Moore,
Capital Press
12/1/06
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A
Klamath River settlement that might back removal of hydroelectric dams
is so close that a planned December "Klamath Summit" has been put off,
at least until January.
The meeting, sponsored by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was planned the week of Dec. 11 in Klamath
Falls, Ore. When it will happen apparently hinges on stakeholder talks
- going on without the dam's owner at the table - set for
mid-December.
"A number of parties are getting down to brass tacks on some crucial
issues," said Suzanne Knapp, a natural resource adviser to Kulongoski.
Knapp represents Oregon in the new round of settlement talks that grew
out of PacifiCorp Energy's earlier attempt to resolve terms for
renewal of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Klamath
hydroelectric project license.
She, like others in the current round of negotiations, won't speak
specifics. But her boss, Mike Carrier, told the Associated Press last
week that parties hope the federal government will pick up most of the
cost. Three dams in far Northern California plus the J.C. Boyle Power
Plant just north of the stateline in Oregon are subject of the
closed-door talks. There's a regulating dam above Boyle and two small
powerplants near Klamath Falls that PacifiCorp wants to drop from a
renewed license.
Carrier said U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne asked that
"solutions" be presented at a summit so he might return to Washington,
D.C., with a package of items for federal funding. American Indian
tribes with treaty rights to Klamath salmon lead stakeholders that
want dam removal rather than relicensing.
Klamath salmon runs have been blocked for 90 years by the complex of
hydroelectric dams about 180 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Fish
numbers dropped dramatically over that time, and Endangered Species
Act protection triggered conflict over diversion of irrigation water
to upper basin farmers.
FERC this week wrapped up a round of public hearings on the draft
environmental impact statement for a new license. The commission staff
favors keeping the dams, but opening the upper river to salmon by
trucking them around the lower dams.
"These are not the old settlement talks that have been going on for 2
1/2 years," said Dave Kvamme, a PacifiCorp spokesman. "All the parties
have been there, but not us; this is among the stakeholders."
Kvamme said the talks that evolved this fall are "a political process"
that reach beyond the portion of the Klamath used by the hydroelectric
project.
"We welcome participation by political leadership in this. It's no
secret there are a wide diversity of views in the basin," he said.
The power company opened the door this summer, shortly after
MidAmerica Energy Holdings Corp. took over ownership of PacifiCorp
from Scottish Power. PacifiCorp's new president, Bill Fehrman,
responded to an August rally by tribal members at the company
headquarters in Portland by saying, "We are not opposed to dam removal
or other settlement opportunities as long as our customers are not
harmed and our property rights are respected."
In another shift at the top, Fehrman took personal charge of settling
the Klamath license. Toby Freeman, who managed all of PacifiCorp's
FERC relicensing, left the job this fall to transfer to Klamath Falls,
where he became highly visible as the PacifiCorp regional customer
service representative.
Siskiyou County, where the three Northern California dams are located,
continues to support relicensing. Marcia Armstrong, chairman of the
Siskiyou Board of Supervisors, last week filed an official statement
with FERC supporting the staff alternative. County officials note that
several hundred thousand dollars a year in property tax payments and
many local jobs come from the hydroplants and a fish hatchery at Iron
Gate Dam.
"This is not just fish, it impacts other industries; we need to all
get on the same side of the rope and pull," said Armstrong in a
November speech at the annual Klamath Watershed Conference.
Glenn Briggs, who lives in Seiad Valley about 60 miles downstream from
Iron Gate, said dam removal is a last resort. He argues that low-cost
hydroelectric power, control of river flows and other factors are
significant, and that fixing fish passage and getting cool water
downstream will go a long way toward helping dwindling natural salmon
runs. Briggs is part of a Save Our Dams group formed earlier this
year. He has a major point of agreement with direction emerging from
the latest settlement talks.
"The burden of doing all the investment should not be dumped on the
power company. They should be contributed by the agencies interested
in (restoring) fish runs," Briggs said last month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Tam Moore is based in
Medford, Ore. His e-mail address is tmoore@capitalpress.com. |
Klamath Water Users Association
2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3
Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603
Phone (541) 883-6100
FAX (541) 883-8893
kwua@cvcwireless.net |