Awaiting Klamath Dam removal

[nosmokes]

And the ordeal of the Klamath River saga continues it's tortuous journey to conclusion I'm in doubt that it will come to favorable end for the tribes in my lifetime, if ever.This was supposed to have been a done deal years ago, but even an inch forward is progress.

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original-indian country

Awaiting Klamath Dam removal

By Shadi Rahimi, Today correspondent

Story Published: Dec 1, 2008

Story Updated: Dec 1, 2008
HOOPA, Calif. – One thing is clear after driving north through small towns and along winding mountain roads to reach the base of the Klamath River Basin. Its isolation has helped save it.

A century after European contact, the river region remains forested and is dominated by four tribes – the three largest in California: Hoopa, Yurok and Karuk, and the largest in Oregon, the Klamath. Most other California tribal regions have been overtaken and ravaged in comparison.

But although the lush basin appears pristine, it hasn’t been immune to interference. Today seven dams line the 263-mile Klamath River, some producing toxic algae in the still waters of reservoirs and all blocking salmon from reaching 350 miles of spawning grounds.

A glimmer of hope appeared in November when the Bush administration proposed a nonbinding agreement that would result in removal of the four lowest dams beginning in 2020 – which would be the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

The possibility comes after 100 years without salmon for Klamath tribes upriver.

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complete article here

[Robbien]

1. STARTING in 2020, twelve years from now?

They are right, that qualifies as a glimmer.

But a glimmer is better than nothing and gives one a starting point with which to push for more than a glimmer.

So, congrats?

[stevedeshazer]

2. The sooner, the better.

The management of the Klamath River basin has been horrible.

The fish kill of 2001 was a complete and total disgrace and nearly collapsed the entire West Coast salmon fishery.

The Klamath Basin is managed for growing potatoes. Dumbest thing ever to kill off native land and the fish population for agribusiness.

Gordon Smith lost his Oregon Senate seat, I believe, in no small measure to his link to the Klamath fish kill.

[mike_c]

3. I was reading comments recently...

...in the North Coast Journal, if I'm not mistaken, suggesting that the agreement with PacificCorp might actually delay or indefinitely postpone the dam removal. I don't recall the details, but I think the gist was that the federal gov't, or the courts, or someone was pretty darned close to declaring the dams in violation of environmental laws, either by requiring them to create workable fish passages or by simply refusing to relicense them until they solved some of the environmental problems they create in the Klamath. As I said, I don't recall the details, but the important point was that PacificCorp can now go to the feds with an "agreement" in hand that doesn't actually require them to do anything for another dozen years or more, and only then if the gov't coughs up the money.

No matter how you slice it, PacificCorp got a real deal out of this.