Update.
Feds say Klamath dams can stay
by Nathan Rushton, 11/16/2007
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final environmental impact statement issued Friday for the relicensing of PacifiCorp’s Klamath River dams stated the best alternative was to leave the controversial dams in place.
Although it does reference key mandatory measures from federal fisheries managers for more fish-friendy ladders and other water quality-improving prescriptions that it states “may need to be included in a new license for this project,” the FERC staff report stops short of actually requiring them as part of its recommendations.
Located on the Klamath River in Oregon and California, Oregon-based PacifiCorp’s J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2 and Iron Gate hydroelectric dams generate 716,820 megawatt-hours of electricity annually.
FERC’s staff’s recommendation for relicensing the four increasingly unpopular dams for the next 50 years incorporates most of PacifiCorp’s proposed environmental measures, including measures to truck migrating salmon around dams in lieu of costly fish ladders.
The staff alternative does add 25 environmental measures on top of PacifiCorp’s proposal, including the implementation of an integrated fish passage and disease management program and adaptive spawning program, according to the report.
West Coast fishermen groups hit hard by declining fish stocks and Klamath River-area American Indian tribes dependent on the river’s once-thriving salmon runs are critical of the report.
