Monday June 14, 2010
Klamath Restoration Begins

Federal Agencies Initiate Environmental Review of Plan to Restore Rivers, Farms, and Communities

Source: Karuk Tribe

For the past several decades a crippling cycle of crisis has gripped the Klamath Basin. A series of fish kills, irrigation shut-offs, and bans on commercial salmon has resulting in a rotating crisis for Basin communities that has often led to finger pointing between neighbors. However, in recent years a large number of affected parties successfully negotiated a pair of Settlement Agreements aimed at resolving many Klamath River conflicts. The Klamath Agreements were signed February 18, 2010 by Governors Schwarzenegger and Kulongoski, Secretary of Interior Salazaar, leaders of the Karuk, Yurok, and Klamath Tribes, and a host of local irrigation districts, governments and conservation organizations.

The Agreements lay out a process for removing Klamath dams and other restoration measures aimed at recovering the Klamath salmon fishery, but they also address the water and power needs of agricultural communities as well. Heralded as the “Fish and Chips Agreement” (potatoes are a popular crop in the Upper Basin), the plan offers tangible benefits for both fish and farm based communities.

The first step in implementing the Agreements is for Secretary Salazaar to determine if the Agreements are in the public interest and will benefit fisheries. This decision constitutes a “federal action” and is therefore subject to the terms of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires a thorough review of the economic and environmental impacts of the proposed action as well as public input.

Since California funds must also be applied to dam removal, the process must also meet the requirements of California law. Thus, the environmental review process must also meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Supporters of the Settlement Agreements are confident that a fair and objective consideration of the issues will lead the Secretary conclude what many other basin leaders have already – that the Klamath Agreements are the best hope for ending the Klamath’s rotating crisis.

“We’ve studied the problem to death,” says Leaf Hillman, Natural Resources Director for the Karuk Tribe. “We believe that when viewed through the lense of objective science, only one conclusion can be reached and that’s to implement these agreements. Otherwise none of the communities and economies on the Klamath River can survive.”

The NEPA process is not the only hurdle to implementing the Agreements. Congressional authorizing legislation must be passed and funding from cash strapped California must be approved. However, for proponents of the Agreements, confronting political obstacles is nothing new.

According to Hillman, “Getting to this point was a monumental effort. Now that Tribal, fishing, and agricultural communities have formed a partnership with a common purpose, we don’t think anything can stop us.”

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Editor’s note: For summaries and the full text of the Klamath Agreements as well as additional fact sheets on the terms of the agreements, see www.klamathrestoration.org
To view the notice of scoping in the federal register see http://frwebgate2.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=bfkiuD/0/1/0&WAISaction=retrieve 

Public Scoping Sessions:

The Department of Interior and California Department of Fish and Game will hold six public information and scoping meetings according to the dates and locations listed below.

Oral and written comments will be accepted at the public meetings.

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