By Emily Wood
March 2, 2010
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Two historic agreements signed by 30 groups in Salem last month are attempting to end decades of water wars in the Klamath Basin between farmers, fishermen and tribal members.
The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement outline a 50-year framework to handle restoration issues, including fisheries programs, in-stream flows and the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. The KBRA and KHSA total more than 570 pages.
The dam removal is one of the most contentious issues in the agreements, which says it will cost $450 million to remove J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1 and 2 and Iron Gate. Another one-billion is built in to restore the 250-mile Klamath River that stretches from Southern Oregon into Northern California. The Klamath River starts at Upper Klamath Lake, where Basin farmers rely on its water for their crops.
Farmer Ed Bair supports the agreement.
"If the agreement is put into full effect we'll have a reasonable guarantee of a water supply, a block of water, every year," Bair said.
Ed's older brother John is against it.
"My water right is being taken away and re-distributed to different groups without any restitution to me for my land or any compromise on the years of work that I put in to build what I have. It's simply been taken away and I've been excluded from the meetings," Klamath Basin Farmer John Bair said.
Some irrigators in the Upper Klamath Basin are worried the agreements do not do enough to protect water rights.
"Those dams are there doing a good job. They aren't the greatest in the world, no, some of them are pretty old and need to be retro-fitted, they need to be upgraded, yes. To take out dams in a time in our history right now where the economy is in horrible shape for the sake of fish," said Tom Mallams, President of the Off-Project Upper Klamath Water Users Association.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed the agreement in Salem last month, along with members of the Klamath, Karuk and Yurok tribes, Klamath irrigators and environmental groups.
"Groups like Oregon Wild, the Northcoast Environmental Center, Friends of the River, WaterWatch of Oregon... these groups have rejected the settlement because they're the ones that know a lot and fought for a long time for fish, wildlife and the river. And they're saying 'no' to this deal because they see the loopholes in it and they see the problems in it. You have zero Oregon environmental groups supporting this," Oregon Wild Spokesman Sean Stevens said.
Oregon Wild is against the KBRA but in favor of taking out the dams.
"We've always been supportive of dam removal in the Klamath Basin. It's the economical, the moral and the environmental thing to do, always has been. The problem is the KHSA, the dam removal deal. It's tied to this albatross that is the KBRA that costs too much money, that gives away money to special interests, and doesn't protect fish and wildlife adequately," Stevens said.
The KBRA also returns more than 90,000 acres, known as the Mazama Tree Farm, to the Klamath Tribe. The land runs alongside Highway 97 in Klamath County.
"This has always been our homeland, but we lost land during termination. Reacquiring land, it's really darn important for the tribes. It allows us to start rebuilding our economic base, creating a sustainable homeland, that's what we're looking for," Klamath Tribe Member Jeff Mitchell said.
The Klamath Tribe plans on using the land as a commercial forest, and are looking into building a bio-mass plant.
"When you look at what's happening on the Klamath, we are removing four dams. We're taking some energy off the grid. It's important that that energy be replaced with Mazama. It gives the ability to have another renewable resource, timber and create energy," Mitchell said.
While the Klamath, Yurok and Karuk tribes support the agreements, the Hoopa Valley Tribe along the Trinity River is against it. The Hoopa Tribe wants the entire Klamath Basin to be restored, which includes the Trinity River.
"The biggest reason is that we're sitting on the Lower Trinity right here. There's things like the science and the information that's been put together to support the agreements. There hasn't been, to our knowledge, a thorough analysis of the water allocation and the impacts to the fishery, including this river," Hoopa Valley Tribe Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said.
The Hoopa Valley Tribe is still supportive of dam removal and is trying to find another way to fast-track the process.
"We are working with the Klamath Conservation Partners, for example... One thought is to alternatively separate out the dam removal aspect of it, have that clean stand on its own," Orcutt said.
The Klamath Conservation Partners is a new environmental group that includes Water Watch, Oregon Wild and the Northcoast Environmental Center. The partners want to separate dam removal from the restoration agreement, and are drafting their own legislation to remove the dams faster.
"What we're trying to do with the Klamath Conservation Partners is point out to our legislators that all their alternatives are available. But you have to look beyond the restoration package and see that we could work collaboratively to come up with those alternatives. But if the restoration package is sold as the only thing there is, then that's all we will have to work with," said Jay Wright with the NEC.
"Its a good thing, because now it's out in the open and we can actually work with Congress to improve it and make sure that we are getting a complete restoration of the Klamath Basin," Stevens said.
With the agreements signed, the future of these dams lies in the hands of Salazar. Salazar has until 2012 to determine if the dams should come out. If he decides to remove them, it will be the largest dam removal project in world history. However, the dam removal wouldn't start until 2020 or 2025.
"I don't think this thing will be in place for five years or longer. But we need the secretary's determination, we need the funding at the federal level, then we need to get the organizations locally in place that are going to develop and fine tune. The KBRA has been signed. The deployment, or bringing this thing to the ground, is going to take three times the work it took to bring it to the signing," Ed Bair said.
The agreements now head to Congress, which will have to approve more than a billion dollars in funding. Salazar will take into account their decision before he rules in 2012.
