A
big step toward peace
Phil Detrick, lead negotiator
in the Klamath settlement talks for the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, said approving the
settlement would be big step toward peace on the
river during a Tuesday public hearing in Yreka.
Detrick said the proposed
settlement does not determine if four Klamath
River will be removed and does not determine
conditions of dam removal, but instead provides
alternative outcomes for the ongoing relicensing
process for the dams.
He said removal could end
crisis management that resulted in federal
allocations of $50 million during the 2001 water
crisis, when water was cut off to Klamath
Project irrigators, and $60 million in 2006 to
Pacific Coast fisherman when commercial fishing
was prohibited.
"The
status quo cannot be continued", Detrick said.
We never miss an
opportunity to miss an opportunity, said Ron
Cole, Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges
manager, of the historic lack of progress in
resolving Klamath Basin water issues. We're
caught in a rut.
We have no brakes. We have no steering wheel.
Toby Freeman, regional communications manager
for Pacific Power, spoke briefly but said he
would only repeat comments made at a previous
supervisors meeting, when he said the power
company does not favor dam removal and is
concerned about passing on removal costs to
company customers.
Klamath commissioner
Klamath County Commissioner Bill Brown
attended the Siskiyou County Supervisors meeting
Tuesday, saying he basically came here to
listen.
He told supervisors that 70 percent of those
speaking at settlement hearings in Klamath Falls
opposed the agreement. He noted most of the
strong opposition was from off-Project water
users.
He also told the Siskiyou supervisors that he
and fellow commissioner Al Switzer do not
support dam removal, although he cautioned that
if PacifiCorp agrees to remove the dams, we need
to have some settlement on the table.
