Un-damming the Klamath?

Nat Pennington and Amy Stercho

 


 
Decisions made in the next two years could have significant impacts on the Klamath River, and consequently on returns of anadromous fish to the Salmon.  Of major consequence is the relicensing of five dams on the Klamath mainstem, which are currently managed by PacifiCorp, a division of Scottish Power.  Iron Gate, the lowest of the five dams located on the California-Oregon border, blocks off the upper 300 miles of the basin, much of which was historically used as spawning habitat by Chinook, Coho and Steelhead.  Spring Chinook, once the dominant run in the Klamath, spawned largely above the dams. Currently a remnant population of the mid – upper Klamath River Spring Chinook run, exists only in the Salmon River. The Salmon River spring run possesses many of the life history and adaptive traits necessary for successful reintroduction of Salmon into the Upper Klamath. Copco 1 and Copco 2 are the next dams upriver of Iron Gate, neither of which have fish passage.  J.C. Boyle is the fourth of the PacifiCorp dams and the first to have fish passage; however, these ladders are in need of rebuilding.  The Keno Dam is PacifiCorp’s fifth and upper-most dam.  The five dams currently generate about 150 megawatts of hydroelectric power.

PacifiCorp’s 50-year operational license expires in 2006 and the Federal Energy Regulating Committee (FERC) is in the process of gathering information and holding public hearings related to the relicensing.  They hope to have a draft EIS completed by July of 2005. PacifiCorp, in their application for relicensing, stated that they would not put in fish ladders on the lower three dams, but they would research the option of trucking fish past the dams.

Both the National Research Council (NRC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) strongly encourage studying the effects of dam removal.  At the 2004 Lower Klamath Basin Science Conference a representative of the CEC stated that the restoration value of dam removal far outweighs the small amount of energy generated by these dams. Tribal representatives, river communities, and commercial fisherman alike are nearly unified in support of decommissioning at least some of the five dams.  Over 200 people, most of whom voiced their opinion that the dams should come down, attended FERC’s June public hearing in Eureka. 

Dam removal is of course not an easy process by any means and much research must be done before the process can be considered; however, studies are underway.  These studies and support for dam decommissioning are being fueled by distress over recent and considerable fish kills of both adult and juvenile salmonids.  Hope is that further research on the impacts of the dams on flow and temperature downriver, sediment and water quality in the reservoirs and the consequences of dam removal will lead to a greater understanding of what steps must be taken to improve water quality and spawning habitat.  These studies are necessary to increase the health and abundance of native fisheries.

Scoping comments can be submitted in writing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by July 22, 2004.  All correspondence must clearly show at the top of the first page: “Klamath Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 2082-027.”  Send your comments and any other information about the project to:

Magalie R. Salas, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426

Back to Index