News

Smashing dams to save salmon (on the Klamath River)

        Story Highlights

        Billion dollar dam removal deal would help endangered salmon

        Government, tribes, farmers, environmental groups negotiated plan

        Four dams on Klamath River would be removed under plan

GRANTS PASS, Oregon (AP) -- More than 300 miles of struggling salmon runs would be restored along the Klamath River as part of a landmark $1 billion proposal that represents the largest dam removal project in the nation's history.  The plan, announced Tuesday, followed two years of closed-door negotiations between farmers, Indian tribes, fishermen, conservation groups and government agencies battling over the fate of scarce water and fish protected by the Endangered Species Act.  "What we've come up with is a blueprint for how to solve the Klamath crisis," said Craig Tucker, a coordinator for the Karuk Tribe, which has been working for years to restore dwindling salmon catches that were once key to members' diet and culture.

The proposal calls for the scrapping of four aging hydroelectric dams that have stood on the river for nearly a century -- providing electricity for 70,000 customers but also blocking salmon from reaching their spawning grounds.  The agreement faces significant hurdles. It must be reviewed by federal agencies, including the U.S. Justice Department, and the dams' owner, PacifiCorp, which must agree to their removal, perhaps as soon as 2015.

In addition to money already being spent to mitigate the impact of the dams, the deal also calls for some $400 million in new spending on salmon restoration, primarily from Congress, for a total of $1 billion over 10 years.

The plan contains no provision for paying the estimated $180 million to remove the dams, leaving that to PacifiCorp, a unit of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., which is controlled by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.  PacifiCorp has previously said it would be willing to remove the dams if its ratepayers don't have to pay. But it has also been pursuing a new 30- or 50-year operating license, which would require it to spend about $300 million to build fish ladders.  "It's worth taking a pretty serious look at it," said PacifiCorp spokesman Paul Vogel, who noted his company wasn't part of the negotiations. "We don't know whether anyone has seriously represented our customers on our behalf, because our customers have to be protected in this."

Steve Thompson, director of the California-Nevada office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Sacramento, California, said the Bush administration has supported the settlement process, but the plan must be reviewed by federal agencies.  Thompson added that he knew of no dam removal project in the country that has restored more habitat or would generate more fish, and characterized the new spending as a better investment than past disaster relief to farmers and fishermen.

Opposition to the agreement is coming from the Hoopa Valley Tribe, based on the Trinity River, which flows into the Klamath below the dams; some farmers who are not part of the Klamath Reclamation Project; and two conservation groups tossed out of the talks last spring, Oregon Wild and WaterWatch.  Hoopa Chairman Clifford Marshall said the agreement gives irrigation water priority over the needs of salmon and requires the tribe to waive its water rights on behalf of fish, without any hard assurances the dams would come out.  "Dangling a carrot like this will not work for Hoopa," he said.

Luther Horsley, president of the Klamath Water Users Association, which represents the 1,000 farms on the project, said farmers would achieve their goals of predictable irrigation deliveries, affordable power for irrigation pumps, and freedom from future lawsuits involving endangered species.  Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild and Robert Hunter of WaterWatch said they were skeptical that the deal could actually produce the extra water that salmon need to thrive, or that Congress could come up with the money. They characterized the agreement as a sweetheart deal for the Bush administration to give farmers what they want.

The Klamath, straddling the Oregon-California line, was once the third most productive salmon river system on the West Coast, but it has declined because of misguided hatchery practices, overfishing, development and the loss of habitat to dams, mining, and logging.  Fish returns have become so small that in 2006 commercial salmon fishing had to be nearly shut down off most of Oregon and California, causing a federal disaster declaration.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

• Full Disclosure: The Draft omits a full description of the size, scope and environmental impacts of the proposed project.

• Impacts to Squaw Creek: The Draft neglects to address the project’s impact to the McCloud’s largest tributary, Squaw Creek, which is a vital spawning ground for the watershed’s rainbow and brown trout.

• Hydrological Studies: The interaction of spring water, groundwater and surface flows are especially complex on the porous volcanic slopes of Mt. Shasta.  But the Draft conveniently omits the two most comprehensive U.S. Geological Survey studies of spring and groundwater resources in the area. 

• Realistic Alternatives: By law, DEIRs identify a range of reasonable alternatives to the project.  Nestlé’s Draft, however, fails to do so.  Rather, it cleverly floats “straw men” alternatives that would cause enormous damage to the landscape and surrounding community.

NCCFFF position on California Water issues - With the recent flurry of news articles and Mark Rockwell emails regarding the Delta and California water policy, I've been asked to recap the NCCFFF policies and provide some context.

I understand the NCCFFF has taken a position in opposition to essentially all increased diversions, storage, and exports of Northern California water.
We are opposed to the currently contemplated/proposed storage projects, including Shasta Dam raise, Sites Reservoir, and Temperance Flat Reservoir.

We have taken a position in favor of decreased exports of water at the two main pumping plants in the Delta, not only to help preserve and restore the Delta, but also to decrease reliance on exported water from such watersheds as the Trinity River.  We have opposed the South Delta Improvements Program - a project designed to increase water exports from the Delta.

We have taken a position in favor of restoring the San Joaquin River, primarily by releasing water from Friant Dam and decreasing agricultural
water allotments from the reservoir.

We have not taken a position regarding the Delta restoration efforts currently underway, including the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan and the Delta
Vision Process.  Both of these planning efforts include consideration of a range of Delta water management options, including decreased exports,
increased exports, continuing the through-Delta water conveyance, modifying the through=Delta conveyance with siphons and diversions, and constructing an isolated facility (peripheral canal).  In the next year, we will have the opportunity to provide (pubic) comments on these planning efforts and the NCCFFF will discuss what our position should be.

The Governor has recently revealed his position on many of these issues. Some folks would call it leadership and others would call it short-circuiting or circumventing the planning process.  The Governor has endorsed Sites and Temperance Flat reservoirs, along with the peripheral canal.  As a package, we can definitely say the Governor is acting against our established positions.  We should individually and collectively express
our opposition.

With respect to the peripheral canal, the NCCFFF has not yet had a discussion and taken a position.  In the context of a peripheral canal that
increases exports, we have taken an opposing position,  Within the context of a peripheral canal that holds the line on Delta exports or decreases
Delta exports, we have not taken a position.  It may be time for a discussion and formulation of a position.  I would advise that we wait and
see how the peripheral canal gets flushed out in the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan and Delta Vision Process.

I hope this helps.  Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

Regards,

Douglas W. Lovell, Engineer
Streamborn
PO Box 8330
Berkeley  CA  94707
510-528-4234 (work)
510-528-2613 (fax)
510-520-3146 (mobile)

Salmon & Steelhead Symposium - What has happened and what is happening to our Pacific Coast Salmon & Steelhead? What has been done already and what can we do in Northern California in the future to help?

This is an opportunity for all interested organizations and groups to voice their opinions, concerns and desires for the good of our fisheries.  All are welcome, and anyone interested in being scheduled to speak please contact Justin Wolff ASAP.

WIN RIVER CASINO (near Redding, CA) 

Wednesday, April 4

EAGLE ROOM  6:00-9:00PM

800-280-UWIN

Keynote speaker Gary Loomis will share an informative overview of how Fish First has restored native runs in Washington and what we can do in Northern California to ensure the survival of our wild salmon and steelhead.  Please visit http://www.fishfirst.org for more information on Fish First.  Please call Justin Wolff for more information. 530-510-0514   mailto:jwolff@anglerwest.com

Delta Advisory (March 4, 2007) - California Sportfishing Protection Alliance advisory includes: (1) The Resources Secretary Appoints an Angler to the Delta Vision Process; (2) Letter on the Delta Crisis to the LA Times by Dorothy Green, Secretary, California Water Impact Network that speaks clearly to the benefits of  using water conservation practices; and (3) Water For Fish Press Conference that kicked off a critical effort to acquire and organize angler support for obtaining the water vital to our fishery populations.

Water For Fish - please sign the petition NOW!  California is in the process of restructuring its water policies to meet the needs of its population growth. The “Water Wars” have reached new proportions and fish and fishermen are losing the battle. If fishermen don’t unite and make their voices heard in the political process, we will lose millions of fish and the many benefits they bring to fishermen and to the economy.

Westlands Water District - (June 12, 2006) State plans to retire half of water district's farms  (click link for full story)

Contra Costa Times – 6/10/06 By Mike Taugher, staff writer - Up to half the farms in the nation's largest irrigation district would be taken out of production to prevent tainted runoff from polluting the Delta and ocean under a tentative plan released Friday.  By retiring hundreds of thousands of acres in the Westlands Water District, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation hopes to end decades of controversy over how to drain the district's farms along Interstate  5.