[env-trinity] FW: Seattle Times November 12 08

[Byron Leydecker]

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - Page updated at 08:05 PM


Feds, PacifiCorp reach accord to remove 4 Klamath River dams


By Jeff Barnard

The Associated Press

GRANTS PASS, Ore.  The Bush administration today announced a nonbinding
agreement with PacifiCorp that details how the utility can turn over control
of four Klamath River hydroelectric dams so they can be removed to help
struggling salmon.

While not a final answer, the deal reached in Sacramento, Calif., represents
a milestone toward what would become the biggest dam removal project in U.S.
history.

It also helps resolve issues at the root of the 2001 shut-off of irrigation
to thousands of acres of farmland under enforcement by U.S. marshals and the
2002 deaths of 70,000 adult salmon in the river after irrigation water was
restored.

The agreement in principle was to be signed Thursday by the U.S. Department
of Interior, PacifiCorp and the governors of Oregon and California.

Though the Bush administration has opposed removing hydroelectric dams in
the Columbia Basin, Interior Department Counselor Michael Bogert said it
recognized that removing the four Klamath dams was a key to resolving the
Klamath Basin's long-standing problems balancing water between farms and
fish.

"The president and the secretary (of Interior) were determined in the
aftermath of 2001 and 2002 to come up with a comprehensive approach to deal
with the issues and images we saw in the Klamath Basin," Bogert said. "This
represents our best effort to negotiate what is a business decision for the
company."

Pressure has been building for years on PacifiCorp to make a deal.
California and Oregon's governors pressed for dam removal after commercial
salmon fisheries collapsed in 2006.

Federal biologists mandated that fish ladders and other improvements costing
$300 million be added to the dams before a federal operating license could
be renewed.

California water authorities have been taking a hard look at the dams' role
in toxic algae plaguing the river, and river advocates have sued PacifiCorp
to fix that the algae problem.

Dean Brockbank, vice president and general council for PacifiCorp Energy,
said though the agreement was nonbinding, the utility was committed to
seeing it through.

He added the company's four key concerns were all met: PacifiCorp is
protected from liability; there is a $200 million cap on removal costs to be
born by ratepayers; dam removal is far enough in the future to avoid a
scramble for replacement power; and PacifiCorp's capital expenditures were
held to a minimum.

According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the agreement is a
road map for turning the dams over to a nonfederal entity and starting to
remove them by 2020.

Deadline for a binding agreement is June 30, and farmers, Indian tribes and
other parties that endorse the agreement in principle get a place at the
table.

Then the federal government undertakes studies to be sure dam removal is
feasible and cost-effective. Operations continue without having to clean up
toxic algae blooms that are a roadblock to renewal of a federal operating
license.

The deal embraces a $1 billion environmental-restoration blueprint for the
Klamath Basin that has been endorsed by farmers, tribes, fishermen and
conservation groups.

Besides restoring fish habitat, it guarantees water and cheap electricity
for farmers, as well as continued access to federal wildlife refuges for
farming.

Besides the $200 million in removal costs to be born by ratepayers, the
state of California will ask voters to approve a $250 million bond.
Surcharges would be about $15 to $20 a year to PacifiCorp's 500,000
customers in Oregon and 45,000 customers in California.

Any dam removal costs over $450 million must be worked out later.

PacifiCorp also committed to paying California $500,000 a year for
fish-habitat improvements until the dams are removed.

"The health of the Klamath River is critical to the livelihood of numerous
Northern California communities, and with this groundbreaking agreement we
have established a framework for restoring an important natural resource for
future generations," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

The Karuk Tribe had led demonstrations at PacifiCorp stockholder meetings
demanding dam removal, but spokesman Craig Tucker said the agreement
represented a new working relationship with the utility "and we are looking
forward to working with them as partners in the future."

Glen Spain, of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations,
which represents California commercial salmon fishermen, also voiced
support.

"It is a break out of gridlock into a dam removal pathway that shows great
promise."

Oregon Wild, a Portland conservation group kicked out of basin restoration
talks, blasted the deal, saying the Bush administration was imposing a lot
of conditions favorable to PacifiCorp and punting a problem it had failed to
resolve in eight years.

Built between 1908 and 1962, the four dams block salmon from 300 miles of
spawning habitat while producing enough electricity to power about 70,000
homes.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of billionaire investor Warren
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, owns PacifiCorp, which serves 1.6 million
customers in six Western states.

Copyright 2008 The Seattle Times Company

 

Byron Leydecker, JCT

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810

415 519 4810 cell

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org (secondary)

http://fotr.org 

 <mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net>  

 

 

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