THE HAMMER: The state had a legislative
deadline to have come up with a Salton
Sea restoration plan by the end of 2006.
Schwarzenegger's team at the water
resources department is a little behind
schedule, but working feverishly. Once
the administration's solution is
unveiled, it will be up to the
Legislature to implement the plan or
amend it."I do think we are heading
toward a political and technical
solution," said Kim Delfino, state
program director for the environmental
group Defenders of Wildlife.
THE CONTROVERSY: A dam. And the price
tag.
There seems to be general agreement
that the southern edge of the sea should
be reconfigured with a system of
concentric canals that create shallow
habitat for birds. The question is on
the northern end. That would be the site
of the permanent "sea." The question is
how big to make it. The bigger the sea,
the bigger the dam, the more water it
needs. All this would mean less water
for the birds in the shallows to the
south.
Nothing is small about the price tags
for any of the alternatives. Of the
options being studied by the state,
upfront costs for the changes range from
$2.3 billion to $5.8 billion. That
doesn't count the annual costs to
maintain the new and improved sea, which
could exceed $100 million. Given that
there is no big pot of money sitting
around for the solution, the Salton Sea
will have to compete against other
needs.
"There isn't a solution where you
build this one thing, and everything is
fixed," Snow said. "It is more of a
long-term investment strategy."
THE KLAMATH RIVER
THE PROBLEM: The 250-mile river through
southern Oregon and Northern California
used to produce one of the Pacific
Ocean's largest salmon runs. No more.
Its coho salmon run is officially
threatened under the federal Endangered
Species Act. The National Marine
Fisheries Service curtailed commercial
fishing off the coast of California and
Oregon to protect the few salmon
destined to return to the Klamath River.
Many reasons for the depleted salmon
runs are suspected, such as years of
logging along the river's banks and
large diversions of water for
agriculture.
More than a century ago, Congress
began approving dams and aqueducts that
have altered the Klamath. Four of the
dams, owned by PacifiCorp, a private
electricity provider, have cut off about
half of the historic spawning grounds
for the salmon. The dams were built to
produce electricity -- about 167
megawatts, enough for about 70,000 homes
-- not for water supply.
THE HAMMER: Federal licenses for the
four dams have expired and need to be
renewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission. FERC can't order the dams to
be demolished. However, the commission
can impose costly new requirements: more
fish ladders, more monitoring, less
power production.
THE CONTROVERSY: Dam removal versus
dam modifications.
A study for the California Energy
Commission concluded that PacifiCorp
could save money by tearing down the
dams rather than building the fish
ladders and other modifications that
FERC has been reviewing.
"The more analysis we do, the better
it looks for dam removal," said Craig
Tucker, who is coordinating a campaign
by the Karuk Indian Tribe to tear down
the dams.
PacifiCorp -- although willing to
discuss dam removal in private
negotiations with the tribe,
environmental groups, farmers and
wildlife agencies -- disputes the notion
that removing the dams is the cheapest
course. "The dams currently have more
than 20 million cubic yards of sediment
behind them," said Dave Kvamme, a
spokesman for PacifiCorp. "I don't know
how you get a permit to remove that kind
of stuff."
FERC is on a timetable to issue its
relicensing decision later this year,
but a negotiated settlement seems to be
the goal.
"We're heavily engaged in discussions
with all the communities to come up with
a package that works," Snow said.
Will the dams come down?
"Our customers' interests need to be
protected," Kvamme said. Translation:
Somebody needs to come up with money to
make it happen. The Klamath River hardly
has the political world's undivided
attention. It is just another water
issue on a crowded table. And it's a
gamble that dam removal alone would
revive the salmon runs.
"Under the present situation, it is
not at all certain whether taking down
those dams will solve the major problems
of the Klamath," said Moyle, who has
studied the river on behalf of the
National Research Council. But something
is bound to happen. For FERC, which must
decide on a relicensing plan, doing
nothing is not an option.
Welcome to the club.
