Draft bill on Klamath water doesn’t include dam removal

PORTLAND — An Oregon Republican congressman has released a proposal to resolve disputes over scarce water in the Klamath Basin — but it doesn’t include the removal of four aging dams, a central point in historic settlement agreements.

The agreements, hammered out by farmers, tribes, environmentalists and states, aim to restore the river for imperiled salmon and steelhead and give farmers more certainty about irrigation water. The Klamath Basin straddles Oregon and California.

Congress must pass legislation to implement the agreements, but House Republicans have blocked it for years, fearing it would set a precedent for dam removal. The agreements expire at the end of December.

The draft legislation, released on Thursday by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, does not authorize or fund federal dam removal. It leaves that up to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which licenses hydropower projects, though it’s unclear if the commission would ask the utility to tear down the dams.

Several parties to the agreement said the lack of a dam-removal provision makes the draft bill a non-starter. They say the dams thwart salmon migration, degrade water quality, alter water flows, and contribute to fish disease problems.

Three federally recognized tribes depend on salmon for subsistence and ceremonial needs, and a fourth hopes fish will return once the dams are removed. One of the tribes already has obtained water rights through the courts, and the others could pursue that process, further limiting water to irrigators.

Don Gentry, the chairman of the Klamath Tribal Council, said there’s significant concern about where legislation without dam removal would leave the tribe.

PacifiCorp, which owns and operates the four dams, did not immediately return a call for comment. But the utility, a signatory to the agreements, supports dam removal.