VICTORY!! Two New Klamath Basin Agreements Carve out Path for Dam Removal

Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Commerce, PacificCorp, and the states of Oregon and California signed an agreement that, following a process administered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), is expected to remove four dams on the Klamath River by 2020, amounting to one of the largest river restoration efforts in the nation. State and federal officials also signed a new, separate agreement with irrigation interests and other parties known as the 2016 Klamath Power and Facilities Agreement (KPFA). This agreement will help Klamath Basin irrigators avoid potentially adverse financial and regulatory impacts associated with the return of fish runs to the Upper Klamath Basin, which are anticipated after dams are removed.While this is a HUGE victory for all involved, for the Seattle-based non-profit, Orca Conservancy, the enormity of today's signed agreements hits a lot closer to home. This is a monumental victory for the endangered Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) population that spend the summer months in the Salish Sea, but during the winter months have been tracked for years travelling up and down the West Coast in search of their main food source, Chinook salmon."We've been saying all along that the Klamath River salmon stocks are a mid-point link between the Columbia River and the Sacramento River," said Shari Tarantino, President of Orca Conservancy. "Today is a HUGE victory for this critically endangered population, and it puts all of us working towards their recovery one step closer to making that a reality."The newly amended dam removal agreement, which uses existing nonfederal funding and follows the same timeline as the original agreement, will be filed with FERC on or about July 1 for consideration under their established processes. Under the agreement, dam owner PacifiCorp will transfer its license to operate the Klamath River dams to a private company known as the Klamath River Renewal Corporation. This company will oversee the dam removal in 2020. PacifiCorp will continue to operate the dams until they are decommissioned.