[env-trinity] Klamath Dam Relicensing

[Byron Leydecker]

Good Morning!

 

Today is a historic day in the struggle to restore the Klamath River. The
Department of Interior and Commerce issued final mandatory terms and
conditions for the relicensing of PacifiCorp dams that require fish passage,
paving the way for the removal of four dams that block the migration of
salmon, steelhead and other fish. This huge victory wouldn't have happened
without all of the political pressure over the past few years by a broad
coalition of Klamath Basin Indian Tribes, commercial fishermen, recreational
anglers and conservationists. 

 

Now that the terms and conditions have been officially issued, it is crucial
that increasing pressure is put upon PacifiCorp, owned by Warren Buffett, to
bring the dams down! Here's today's press release from the Karuk Tribe.

 

Dan Bacher

 

P R E S S R E L E A S E 

 

KARUK TRIBE 

 

For Immediate Release: January 30, 2007 

 

Contact: Craig Tucker, Klamath Coordinator, Karuk Tribe, 530-627-3446 x3027 

 

 

 

FEDERAL AGENCIES ISSUE FINAL MANDATES FOR KLAMATH DAMS 

Feds mandate ladders; costs officially favor dam removal 

 

Happy Camp, CA - Today, the Department of Interior and Commerce filed the
final mandatory terms and conditions that must be met in order for
PacifiCorp to relicense the Klamath Dams. Although the agencies do not have
the authority under the Federal Power Act to mandate dam removal, they can
and did mandate fishways and ladders. Klamath Basin Tribes and other dam
removal advocates are pleased since the cost of the prescribed ladders and
fishways makes dam removal an economically favorable alternative to
relicensing. 

 

"We applaud the Departments of Commerce and Interior for fulfilling their
obligation to protect and restore the Klamath River," said Leaf Hillman,
Vice Chairman of the Karuk Tribe. "Now it's time for PacifiCorp President
Bill Fehrman to make good on his commitment to protect his ratepayers from
higher costs and simply remove these fish killing dams." 

 

Last August as members of the Karuk, Hoopa, Yurok and Klamath Tribes
protested the international hydropower industry's symposium in Portland,
PacifiCorp President William Fehrman released a statement that concluded
with, "We have heard the Tribes' concerns. We are not opposed to dam removal
or other settlement opportunities as long as our customers are not harmed
and our property rights are respected." 

 

In December the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of
Interior filed an economic report with the Federal Energy Relicensing
Commission which concluded that dam removal would be cheaper, by $100
million, than relicensing. The analysis included the cost of replacing the
electricity the dams generate with other currently available sources. 

 

Last month PacifiCorp filed an alternative to the draft prescriptions in an
effort to water down the Department of Interior and Commerce's final
mandates. According to Hillman, "PacifiCorp's trap and haul alternative was
another attempt to duck their social responsibilities. I commend Secretaries
Kempthorne and Guiterrez for seeing through their charade." Hillman
concludes, "If Bill Fehrman still refuses to remove the dams, he will be
guilty of gouging ratepayers to the benefit of Warren Buffett and other
wealthy investors. He will also be complicit in the genocide of the Native
People of the Klamath Basin." 

 

Capital improvement costs to power projects such as dams are often billed to
ratepayers with a regulated rate of return for investors. "Even though the
cost of ladders exceeds the cost of dam removal, PacifiCorp may attempt to
bill ratepayers for the added cost and at the same time earn a rate of
return for investors," according to Craig Tucker, Ph.D., Relicensing
Coordinator for the Karuk Tribe. The Public Utility Commissions of
California and Oregon would have to approve such a move. 

 

Historically, the Klamath River was one of the three most productive salmon
rivers in America. Today, dams and diversions have decimated salmon
populations leading to strict limits on commercial salmon fishing up and
down the west coast in 2006. Tribes, fishermen, and environmentalists see
dam removal as a fundamental step towards restoring the Klamath's fishery. 

 

Governors Schwarzenegger and Kulongoski plan to host a Dam Removal Summit in
early March to discuss how the dam removal factors in a basin wide agreement
to address the concerns of Tribes, fishermen, and irrigators. 

 

 

Byron Leydecker

Friends of Trinity River, Chair

California Trout,Inc., Advisor

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

 <mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net> bwl3 at comcast.net

 <mailto:bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org> bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org
(secondary)

http:// <http://www.fotr.org> www.fotr.org

http:// <http://www.caltrout.org> www.caltrout.org 

 

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