Plan paves road for Klamath dams' removal

[XemaSab]

The Bush administration today announced a non-binding agreement with PacifiCorp that details how the utility can turn over control of four Klamath River hydroelectric dams so they can be removed to help struggling salmon.

While not a final answer, the deal reached in Sacramento represents a milestone toward what would become the biggest dam removal project in U.S. history and help resolve issues at the root of the 2001 shutoff of irrigation to thousands of acres of farmland and the 2002 deaths of 70,000 adult salmon after irrigation water was restored.

Though the Bush administration has opposed removing hydroelectric dams in the Columbia Basin, Interior Department Counselor Michael Bogert said from Sacramento that it recognized that removing the four Klamath dams was a key to resolving the Klamath Basin's scarce water issues.

"The president and the secretary (of Interior) were determined in the aftermath of 2001 and 2002 to come up with a comprehensive approach to deal with the issues and images we saw in the Klamath Basin," Bogert said. "This represents our best effort to negotiate what is a business decision for the company."

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/nov/12/plan-paves-road-klamath-dams-removal/

[Redneck Socialist]

1. Wow! That's huge!

Great news.