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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font face="Garamond" size=4>
'little typo in the AP copy : </blockquote><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">California will pay $<u>200</u>
million, not $20 million -- <u>if</u> 1- CA voters have one more
"safe, clean, reliable" water bond left in them, which they may
not -- and 2- some idiot CA governor doesn't try to tie the Klamath dam
decom bond proposition to building some 700-ft-wide canal from the SF
Bay-Delta to his developer friends in the south</blockquote><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Good for the Oregonians.
</font></blockquote><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font face="Garamond" size=4>A
little iffy from our end.</blockquote><br>
Bill Kier<br><br>
</font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><b>Kulongoski signs bill
to pay for removal of dams<br>
S.F. Chronicle-7/14/09<br>
By Jeff Barnard <br>
</b> <br>
The state of Oregon will finance most of the cost of removing four
Klamath River dams to help salmon under a bill signed by Gov. Ted
Kulongoski Tuesday.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, federal officials met in Klamath Falls with representatives of
Pacificorp and the states of California and Oregon. The parties must have
a binding agreement by September to restore 300 miles of spawning habitat
on what was once the third biggest salmon producer on the West
Coast.<br>
<br>
A preliminary agreement that serves as a framework for the negotiations
both guarantees and limits the amount of irrigation water that will be
available to farmers in the Klamath Basin, and offers hundreds of
millions of dollars for salmon restoration work and research.<br>
<br>
In recent decades, the needs of farms and fish in the area have been
pitted against each other while declining salmon runs have triggered
cutbacks in commercial and recreational fishing.<br>
<br>
"Signing this bill into law is a critical step in ensuring that all
of the Klamath's diverse rural communities have an economically viable
future," Kulongoski said in a release. "Every farmer and
fisherman whose livelihood depends on a healthy river system will benefit
from the restoration of the Klamath Basin."<br>
<br>
Long an opponent of dam removal, PacifiCorp shifted after it became clear
the idea had strong public support and the utility could end up paying
far more to continue trying to relicense the aged dams.<br>
<br>
"We said all along if public policy dictates dam removal, we need to
do everything we can to provide our customers with legal and financial
protection," Pacificorp spokesman Art Sasse said.<br>
<br>
Sasse, as well as representatives of Indian tribes, farmers, and salmon
fishermen, who have long battled over balancing scarce water in the
Klamath Basin between fish and farms, all praised the governor for his
work to make dam removal a reality.<br>
<br>
Oregon Wild, however, continues to oppose the deal. The conservation
group argues that it gives too much to farmers and too little to fish and
wildlife.<br>
<br>
Water wars have long simmered in the Klamath Basin, where the first of
the dams and a federal irrigation project built in the early 20th century
turned the natural water distribution upside down, draining marshes and
lakes and tapping rivers for electricity to put water on dry farmland
that grows potatoes, horseradish, grain, alfalfa and cattle.<br>
<br>
A drought in 2001 forced a shut-off of irrigation water to sustain
threatened and endangered fish, and when the irrigation was restored the
next year, tens of thousands of salmon died trying to spawn in the
Klamath River, which was too low and too warm to sustain them.<br>
<br>
Besides blocking salmon from the upper basin, the dams raise water
temperatures to levels unhealthy for fish. Their reservoirs produce toxic
algae. The fish are beset by parasites.<br>
<br>
The law calls for building up a trust fund of $180 million over the next
10 years through a surcharge on PacifiCorp costumers in Oregon, which
amounts to about $1.50 a month for a residential customer. California
pays $20 million. If dam removal falls through, the money goes back to
ratepayers.<br>
<br>
If a federal feasibility study shows the dams can be safely torn down,
work begins around 2020.#<br>
<b> <br>
<br>
</b><i>Byron Leydecker, JcT<br>
Chair, Friends of Trinity River<br>
PO Box 2327<br>
Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327<br>
415 383 4810 land<br>
415 519 4810 cell<br>
<b><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a><br>
<a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">
bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a> </b>(secondary)<br>
<b><a href="http://fotr.org/">http://www.fotr.org</a> <br>
</i></b> <br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
env-trinity mailing list<br>
env-trinity@velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us<br>
<a href="http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity" eudora="autourl">
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity</a></blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font face="Garamond" size=4>Kier Associates, <i>Fisheries and Watershed
Professionals<br>
</i>P.O. Box 915<br>
Blue Lake, CA 95525<br>
707.668.1822 <br>
mobile: 498.7847 <br>
<a href="http://www.kierassociates.net/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.kierassociates.net<br>
</a>GSA Advantage Contractor GS-10F-0124U<br>
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