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Pacific Power
has a big
dilemma - what
will they
choose?
Dams to come
down?
* Pacific Power
has been given a
choice: pay $300
million for fish
ladders on their
Klamath River
dams or consider
the other
options - which
could mean the
dams come out
By Daniel
Webster
Pioneer Press
Publisher
Fort Jones, CA
February 7, 2007
STATE OF
JEFFERSON - Last
week, the
federal Interior
and Commerce
Department
issued an order
to Pacific Power
that if it is to
receive its
license renewal
to continue
using the dams
along the
Klamath River
for power
production it
must install
fish ladders -
at a whopping
cost of $300 to
$470 million.
The four dams in
question produce
electricity for
70,000 customers
and the power is
worth $29
million a year.
Advocates of dam
removal - such
as the Karuk
Tribe - suggest
that dam removal
is much more
cost effective
than
constructing
fish ladders.
Anti-dam
proponents, such
as the Karuk
Tribe, suggest
the cost savings
of dam removal
over fish
ladders is
between $101 to
$285 million.
By virtue of the
cost, dam
removal
advocates are
expecting Warren
Buffet's Pacific
Power to rip out
the dams.
Dave Kvamme, the
spokesperson for
Pacific Power,
told the Pioneer
Press that a
complete
engineering
study has yet to
be done taking
into account all
factors of the
dam removal
process,
including the
costs and
economic impact
of dam removal.
It is his belief
that those who
advocate dam
removal have
artificially
projected a cost
which is much
lower than
reality, to
serve their
cause.
As the debate
heats up over
the State of
Jefferson's most
important river,
the eyes of the
nation are being
turned to our
neck of the
woods.
"This would
represent the
largest and most
ambitious dam
removal project
in the country,
if not the
world," Steve
Rothert of the
environmental
group American
Rivers told the
Los Angeles
Times.
"The Klamath is
a degraded
system, but it
is uniquely
restorable,"
David Diamond,
an analyst with
the Interior
Department, told
the Washington
Post. "These
dams are the
only barriers to
fish passage
from the
headwaters to
the Pacific. The
watershed is 80
percent under
federal
ownership and it
doesn't have
major cities or
other
development that
prevents the
return of
healthy salmon
runs."
"We applaud the
Departments of
Commerce and
Interior for
fulfilling their
obligation to
protect and
restore the
Klamath River,"
Leaf Hillman,
vice chairman of
the Karuk Tribe,
stated in a news
release. "Now
it's time for
PacifiCorp
President Bill
Fehrman to make
good on his
commitment to
protect his
ratepayers from
higher costs and
simply remove
these fish
killing dams."
Pacific Power is
still in the
settlement
process with the
various parties
involved.
According to
Kvamme, there
are two
processes at
work right now,
the federal
licensing
process and the
settlement
process. |
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