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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Agreement to take down Klamath dams? Not
likely<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=byline1><font size=3 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ani
Kame'enui<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date1><font size=3 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Wednesday,
December 31, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Basin</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> agreement for
removal of the river's lower four dams, is 32 pages long. I am beginning to
wonder if those commenting in support of the it only made it through the first
two-and-a-half</span></font></b> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>pages. A
thorough read of the document reveals that the devil is most certainly in the
details.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:6.0pt'><b><font
size=1 color="#222222" face=Arial><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:
Arial;color:#222222;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:bold'>Images<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:9.5pt;
font-family:Verdana'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/12/31/EDRV150MGT.DTL&o=0"><font
size=1 color="#015660"><span style='font-size:7.5pt;color:#015660;text-decoration:
none'><img border=0 width=220 height=335 id="_x0000_i1050"
src="cid:image020.jpg@01C96B25.32D98D10" class=solo-thumb></span></font></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/12/31/EDRV150MGT.DTL&o=0"><font
size=1 color="#015660"><span style='font-size:7.5pt;color:#015660;text-decoration:
none'><img border=0 width=7 height=7 id="_x0000_i1051"
src="cid:image021.gif@01C96B25.32D98D10" class=plus>View Larger Image</span></font></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:9.5pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'><!-- begin: types/widgets/pages/common/autocols/dropin.tmpl --><!-- autocols/dropin/openforum.html generated by openforum on Wed Dec 31 01:54:41 2008 -->A
diverse group has worked for dam removal in one of the West's most debated and
ecologically valuable watersheds. Unfortunately, rather than a road map for dam
removal, the recently signed tentative agreement is the dysfunctional product
of a Bush-led Department of Interior - an agency that has failed the Klamath
time and again over the last eight years. It is a mystery why cooperating
parties, including the states of <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State> and <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State>, would allow a lame-duck president to lay a
faulty foundation for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Basin</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> policy for
President-elect Barack Obama. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>There is no doubt that dam removal is necessary to restore
the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>'s salmon runs, and the
cultures and wildlife that depend on a healthy river. However, the agreement
would delay any work to remove the harmful dams until 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>While the delayed time line is troubling, even worse is the
provision that strips <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State> and <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> of their ability to keep <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath
River</st1:place> water clean. The agreement allows PacifiCorp to bypass Clean
Water Act certification, a process viewed as an insurmountable hurdle on the
road to dam relicensing. Rather than mandating a change from conditions that
led to toxic water and dead salmon, the agreement guarantees status-quo
management for at least another decade.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Read deeper into the document and realize it is rife with
"get out of jail free" cards for dam-owner PacifiCorp. To start, the
agreement isn't even a final dam removal deal; it's simply a commitment to talk
about a deal.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Long before any dam is removed, the agreement requires a
cost-benefit analysis of dam removal (even though such studies have already
been done); and legislation in by both Oregon and California to raise a
combined $450 million from a general bond paid for by taxpayers and rate
increases to power customers (despite the fact that PacifiCorp's parent company
holds assets worth nearly $40 billion). It is no wonder PacifiCorp has signed
onto this deal.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>There is no guarantee PacifiCorp will ever be required to
remove the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> dams.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Perhaps the greatest flaw in the agreement is its link to the
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Bush-backed</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Basin</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
Restoration Agreement, which requires nearly $1 billion from federal taxpayers
at a time when the national economy is suffering. It would also require
Congress to lock in Klamath River flows that fail to meet the scientifically
established needs of salmon, and extend commercial agricultural development for
another 50 years on the two most important National Wildlife Refuges in the
western <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>In order to create long-term resolution to the Klamath
Basin's water resource challenges, we must develop a plan that brings water
demands back into balance with what the region can naturally provide. Such a
balance can be better accomplished through a realistic plan for dam removal without
making sacrifices for PacifiCorp, by phasing out commercial agriculture on
National Wildlife Refuge land, and using good science to inform local and
federal management of river flows and wetlands in the basin. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Getting past the hoopla that talk of tearing down dams always
creates, we can see the recent agreement on the Klamath for what it really is:
an empty promise. Toxic algae will still flow in the river; threatened salmon
may still die by the tens of thousands; bald eagles will still alight in a National
Wildlife Refuge planted with potatoes bound for market. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>It is certainly time for a new direction in the Klamath.
Sadly, we are being offered more of the same.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=dtlcomment><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>(Ani Kame'enui is the Klamath
campaign coordinator for <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State> Wild, an
educational and scientific organization that works to protect and restore <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>'s wildlands,
wildlife and water. <a href="http://www.oregonwild.org">www.oregonwild.org</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, JCT, Chair</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">www.fotr.org</a> </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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