[env-trinity] Herald and News Op/Ed

[Jim Carpenter]

      Let's unite the basins, based on the benefits of a restored river

      Published March 22, 2004

      By Jim and Stephanie Carpenter

      Guest columnists

      "Brand Oregon" is all the buzz upstate with the rollout of Gov. Ted
Kulongoski state marketing campaign. Designed by the Portland advertising
firm Wieden + Kennedy, the theme is quality, centered on Oregon's high-toned
but casual lifestyle, and its agricultural products, wild salmon and wine.
The idea is to promote Oregon for tourists and businesses looking to
relocate, and the state's agricultural and fish commodities to the upmarket
consumer.

      The effort builds on the state's new slogan, "Oregon, We Love
Dreamers." More than just a feel-good campaign, this new initiative will
present a cohesive and coordinated view of the state for visitors with a
bottom line to improve the state's economy.

      We agree that a makeover was needed. "Oregon, things look different
here" is no longer seen as a particularly positive statement. Something
dramatic is needed to leverage Oregon out of the economic doldrums, and
envisioning a new dream is a good beginning.

      The South Portal is a project we have been working on with a similar
vision. The downtown redevelopment of the Lake Ewauna waterfront, designed
to improve the first impression as travelers arrive from the south, and to
provide a range of services for visitors and locals alike. Key to the
project is expanded public access to the lake and Link River corridor and
siting a visitor-interpretive center near the downtown exit of Highway 97.

      Developing a local brand would enhance our marketing of Klamath Falls
as the portal to the Basin - something along the lines of "It's The Water"
that sold so many six- packs over the years. The Klamath Basin is the poster
child for water. Our opportunity is to "brand" it and use it as a positive
statement about our water, our stewardship, and the lifestyle our water
resources nourish in this incredibly diverse and naturally blessed
watershed.

      It is our story. We own it, and yet we are mostly playing defense in
reaction to outside assaults by carpetbaggers from the left and right who
think they know the Basin and what we locals need to be doing with our
resource issues.

      Could be a focus

      We propose that a Klamath Basin, branded and bonded by our water,
would mesh well with the experiential lifestyle brand being promoted by the
state. But even more important, it serves as a focus for developing a shared
vision of community with its roots sustained by our river.

      Klamath Falls is headwaters and hub of a region that has for too long
been languishing for lack of common purpose and collective sense of place.
The last time we recall the community coming together in this way was a
result of the drought more than a decade ago, and it produced the Vision
2002 document. It is still a viable planning tool and example of what a
community can pull together, given the challenge. Perhaps we, as a
community, should re-engage in an update. Even though the drought does not
seem so severe this year, the challenges of allocating our water resources
are even more daunting.

      The good news is that more and more people are taking up the task.
Conferences, seminars, groups, agencies, councils, clubs and committees meet
more or less constantly in search of solutions.

      Most recently, Oregon State University and others convened a
gathering, the fifth in an ongoing series of biennual watershed conferences,
to share data and describe conditions across the watershed. What stood out
for us at this year's conference was the Basinwide pur-view of the
discussions - ridgetop to river mouth. Increasingly, the conferences are
taking on a watershedwide scope, recognizing that the old paradigm of upper
and lower Basin planning does not fit the natural model of interdependent
river basin.

      For us, the most encouraging development of the conferences has been
the inclusion of an interactive element in the agenda. We are recognizing
that solutions will not be just data-driven, even if wrapped in the best
science, but will need to engage the community as well in the planning
process.

      The facilitator was Bob Chadwick, a former Winema Forest supervisor,
now running consensus seminars for conflict resolution. Chadwick has a
format that engages everyone in the dialogue. Sitting in small circles,
everyone gets a chance to talk and everyone listens with no interruptions.
The conversations start with brief self-introductions. Participant then
write down short statements of the worst and the best possible outcomes they
imagine for the Basin. The group then explores the common themes. The
results demonstrate a vision for the Basin beyond conflict. The exercise
shows how much more we have that unites us than divides us. The process is
based on values. The common thread is quality of life.

      What worked so well for the conference attendees could be expanded to
a Basinwide dialogue to establish the shared vision for this sense of place,
the brand of quality lifestyle and values organized around a river.

      Use license process

      We think our best opportunity for achieving this is through the
relicensing process PacifiCorp is undertaking for its hydro facilities along
the Klamath River. Here is how: Expand the scope of the stakeholder meetings
that have been going on for a couple of years.

      The fruit of the meetings, PacifiCorp's draft application for
relicensing, has been submitted. It is pretty much status quo from what we
have seen, although the Link River Dam will no longer be used for power
production, as the cost-benefit for fish screens just did not pencil out.
So, too, for fish passage for salmon at the other dams. Cost for the
perceived benefit was not there.

      We think the analysis was too narrowly focused. PacifiCorp looked only
at the stretch of the Klamath River within its project, and did not factor
in at all the value of "ecosystem services" that a fully functional river
provides for free: water quality, species habitat and the economic and
cultural value of a restored salmon run - once the third largest on the West
Coast.

      If PacifiCorp expanded its vision to include the entire Basin and
relicensed the project with the goal of modifying the dams to provide fish
passage and low-head hydroelectric production and a free-flowing river at
the same time, the benefits would surely exceed the value of the electricity
when applied to the entire Klamath watershed.

      The dams could become the rallying point for restoration rather than
the bottleneck and barrier they represent between the upper and lower basin.
Restoration of the river would become the "brand" under which our
communities could be brought together in real "eco"nomic sustainability.


            Jim and Stephanie Carpenter own Carpenter Design, Inc., a
consulting and contracting firm in Klamath Falls that networks people and
resources. They work with a variety of groups locally on building community.


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Carpenter Design Inc.
Consulting & Construction
CCB# 93939
ph. 541 885 5450
fx. 443 337 2379
www.CarpenterDesign.com
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