After years of negotiations some 30 groups representing state, federal and local governments, as well as tribes, agriculture, fishing groups, and conservationists, have released a historic deal for sharing water in the Klamath Basin.
The goals are lofty, finding a way to make sure there’s enough water for fish, irrigation, local communities and area wildlife refuges.
The Copco 1 Dam on the Klamath River. Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
It’s tied to another deal on removing dams from the Klamath River. The four dams, currently owned and operated Pacific Power, have cut off salmon and steelhead from 300 miles of traditional habitat.
The stakes are high.
Poor salmon runs on the Klamath River have contributed to some of the recent commercial fishing closures of the coasts of Oregon and California in recent years.
And if these plans work, they could serve as an example of what dam breaching could do to help salmon recover in other parts of the region. Think of those four dams on the Lower Snake River.
Some highlights from the new agreement:
- Salmon and steelhead will be reintroduced into their former habitat above the dams, including Upper Klamath Lake. Money will be spent on restoring fish habitat.
- To ensure there’s enough water for fish, limits will be put on how much water will be diverted for irrigation. According to the document, there will be about 100,000 acre feet less diverted for farming during dry years. The agreement also calls for diverting more water into Upper Klamath Lake.
- Farmers would still be allowed to lease land in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake Wildlife Refuges. This has been a sore point with many environmental groups.
- The agreement calls for helping tribes rebuild their fisheries.
Oregon Wild, which was excluded from the talks, says this is better from what they’ve seen in the past, but there’s also a lot of room for improvement. Sean Stevens, with Oregon Wild, says they don’t think the agreement is based on the best available science. He questions whether salmon are really going to get enough water, especially during drought years.
There will be a signing ceremony for both deals in February. But the parties will have an additional 60-days beyond that to ratify the agreement.
For more information about the dam removal agreement please see:
What’s Not So Great About The Klamath Dam Agreement
A New Way Forward On Removing Klamath Dams
