A standing room only audience of farmers and others from the Tulelake Basin made statements and presented letters of support for the agreements at the supervisors’ Tuesday   meeting in Alturas.

   The bill would enact the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement. The most contentious part of the agreements calls for the removal of four Klamath River dams. Because of the dam issue, Klamath County commissioners and Siskiyou County supervisors have refused to support the agreements or legislation.  “As many of the speakers so eloquently explained, it’s not about dams, it’s about putting water in ditches,” Byrne said. “We need to look to the future. Agriculture is the most important economic factor in Modoc County. I think most of the farm community in the Tulelake Basin supports the agreements.”

   Although the issue has sparked disagreements in the Tulelake Basin, she said support for the agreements has been building. She also notes the privately owned dams are on private property and that PacifiCorp, which owns the dams, favors their removal over installing fish ladders and making other costly improvements.  

   A series of speakers, including Tulelake farmer Marshall Staunton, Klamath Water Users Association Executive Director Greg Addington, Family Farm Alliance Executive Director Dan Keppen and others, spoke in favor of the agreement.

   Letter of support

   “If legislation implementing the agreements is not passed, the years of difficult negotiations that brought these agreements together will be for naught because the agreements will expire and this region will be left with further conflict and litigation.”