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By David Siders and Ryan Sabalow The Sacramento Bee February 02. 2016 2:01PM Oregon, California to push for Klamath dam removal despite Congress SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Federal officials and the states of California and Oregon will press forward with plans to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, seeking to resolve years of dispute over the watershed despite resistance from Congress, an official of California Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration said Tuesday. “We will move ahead as a group and start the process,” California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird told lawmakers at a committee hearing. The announcement came after a complex series of agreements around the Klamath, which flows from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California, fell short in Congress. The agreements, reached by tribes, farmers and other groups, had promised habitat restoration and guaranteed Klamath Basin farmers a more reliable supply of water. But they hinged on removal of the four privately owned dams — three in California and one in Oregon — viewed as harmful to migratory fish. The water bond California voters approved in 2014, while not directly mentioning the dams, included language to “remove barriers to fish passage.” Brown’s proposed budget, released in January, included $250 million “to meet the state’s commitments under the Klamath Agreements.” Laird said Oregon and California can move forward without agreement from Congress, where Republicans have blocked efforts to advance legislation that included dam removal. “Tearing down four perfectly good hydroelectric dams when we can’t guarantee enough electricity to keep your refrigerator running this summer is lunacy,” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said in a written statement in December. The dams are used primarily for hydroelectric power and provide little water storage. Farmers in the area receive their water from sources upstream of the dams. The management of the Klamath Basin area has long been contentious, with concerns about fish kill-offs and water for agriculture. Under the agreements, Klamath Basin farmers agreed to take less water in exchange for more reliability, with area tribes — which hold senior water rights — agreeing to share water with farmers in exchange for habitat restoration and the retirement of thousands of acres of agricultural land. “We hoped to implement a more ambitious plan to resolve Klamath water disputes between fishing and farming communities but congressional Republicans blocked our efforts,” Leaf Hillman of the Karuk Tribe said in a prepared statement. “This Agreement in Principle lays out a strategy that does not require congressional approval or any federal funding.” The four dams are owned by Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp and generate power amounting to less than 2 percent of the power in the company’s system, the company has said. Dam removal and associated habitat restoration has been estimated to cost at least $1 billion. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20160202/NEWS/160209932 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->