Officials meeting about dams

by Ty Beaver, Herald and News 7/16/09 

Government and PacifiCorp officials and stakeholders from the Klamath Basin continued to meet in Klamath Falls Wednesday to discuss the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and a connected dam removal agreement.

Steve Kandra, an irrigator on the Klamath Reclamation Project and board member of Klamath Water Users Association, said he did not attend Wednesday’s meetings but that talks centered on minor edits and consistency within and between the two documents.

“They were scheduled to wrap up tonight,” he said Wednesday.

The restoration agreement aims to resolve water disputes in the Klamath River Basin between farmers, tribes, fishermen and environmentalists. Dam removal is a key component of that effort.

State and federal government officials and representatives of Portland-based PacifiCorp signed a tentative agreement in November to move toward dam removal and have said an agreement will be completed by September.

Late calls for comment to Toby Freeman, PacifiCorp’s regional community manager, and Jeff Mitchell, Klamath tribal council member, were not immediately returned.