When the U.S. Congress adjourned in December, it scrapped a water-rights settlement package meant to end years of bitter haggling in California and Oregon’s Klamath Basin among farmers, fishermen, utilities ratepayers and environmentalists. Now, the parties have agreed to move forward on a dam-removal project under a new licensing pathway.
By way of amendments to the Klamath Hydroelectic Settlement Agreement, the U.S. departments of the Interior and Commerce, the states of California and Oregon, and utility operator PacifiCorp have agreed to remove four main-stem Klamath River hydroelectric dam facilities—Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, J.C. Boyle and Iron Gate—through approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and in lieu of a congressional mandate.