PacifiCorp resolves complaints over Klamath River

By JEFF BARNARD

GRANTS PASS, Ore.

The owner of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River said Tuesday it has dropped its complaint over government plans to reduce flows so that a key irrigation reservoir will fill, but remains uncertain whether reduced power production will force a delay in dam removal.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it will release a six-hour pulse of water on Wednesday to wash out parasites that harm salmon in the river flowing from Southern Oregon through Northern California. The agency will then crank river flows back down to be sure Upper Klamath Lake fills by the start of irrigation season.

PacifiCorp had filed a formal complaint that it was not consulted on changing river flows, as required by a landmark agreement to remove the dams to help salmon, and warned reduced flows could mean economic losses that could a delay dam removal slated for 2020.

PacifiCorp Vice President Dean Brockbank said recent talks produced a plan that balanced the needs of energy customers, farmers, fish and the environment, showing the effectiveness of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement signed last year. He added they have dropped their complaint.

PacifiCorp spokesman Art Sasse added that it remains to be seen whether reduced flows continue long enough to cause economic losses that could delay plans to remove the dams by 2020.

The first test of the settlement agreement showed that it was able to resolve PacifiCorp's complaint, Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor said in a statement.

NOAA Fisheries Service, which oversees protections for threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages releases from Upper Klamath Lake into the Klamath River and a major irrigation project, imposed cuts in river flows last month to build up lagging reservoir storage so there will be enough water for salmon as well as farmers this spring.

Drought conditions last year forced cutbacks in irrigation to leave enough water in the river for salmon.

Reclamation Klamath Basin Area Manager Jason Phillips said in a statement he was confident that rainfall, snowmelt and cutbacks to the river would fill the reservoir by the start of irrigation season.

The Herald and News newspaper in Klamath Falls reported that Klamath County agricultural commodities brought in $13.2 million less in 2010 than they did in 2009, when prices were unusually low, and $72.8 million less than in 2008, when prices were good.

The U.S. Department of Interior is to decide in 2012 whether to go ahead with agreements signed by the states of Oregon and California and PacifiCorp to remove four hydroelectric dams that block salmon from hundreds of miles of habitat, restore Klamath Basin ecosystems and assure water for farmers on the federal irrigation project.