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1 1 (August 07, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbfg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.ri E.$~ & August 7, 2020 Klamath River Restoration and Dam Renewal The Klamath River Basin (Figure 1) a 12,000 square mile area on the California-Oregon border is a focal point for discussions on water allocation and species protection. These issues have generated conflict among farmers, Indian tribes, fishermen, water project and wildlife refuge managers, environmental groups, hydropower facility operators, and state and local governments. This In Focus provides background on the basin, with a focus on the proposed removal of four Klamath River dams. Much of the Upper Klamath Basin relies on economic activity supported by irrigated agriculture and the Bureau of Reclamation's (Reclamation's) Klamath Project within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). Other farmers and ranchers also rely on basin water supplies not associated with the Klamath Project (offproject). Further, six national wildlife refuges rely on basin waters to sustain migratory bird habitat, and several Native American tribes historically depended on lower and upper basin fish species. Mitigating the effects of water management, habitat alteration, and other factors on listed species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. §§1531 et seq.) is a perennial issue in the basin. Two species of upper basin fish are currently listed as endangered under the ESA-the Lost River sucker and the shortnose sucker. In the lower basin, the coho salmon is listed as threatened. Conflicts in the basin first came to a head in 2001, when, as a result of previous biological opinions, Reclamation severely curtailed water deliveries to the Klamath Project to provide more water for endangered fish. Subsequent issues, including a major fish kill of Chinook salmon on the Lower Klamath River in 2002, resulted in federally led settlement talks in the 2000s. The basin contains seven dams on the Klamath River and its tributaries, built between 1918 and 1962. Six of these dams are owned by PacifiCorp, a regulated utility. These dams are known collectively as the Klamath Hydroelectric Project (KHP). Historically, all but one of the dams have produced hydroelectric power for the basin, including low- cost power for Klamath Project irrigators. The original Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license to operate the KHP expired in 2006. In 2004, PacifiCorp applied for relicensing of the project, and, in 2007, FERC staff issued a final environmental impact statement for the application. FERC analyzed various alternatives for the application, ultimately recommending a new license with mandatory prescriptions to create fish ladders that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to implement and result in net operating losses for the project. At this time, PacifiCorp entered into basin settlement negotiations with stakeholders and continued to operate the project under temporary annual licenses. Figure I. Klamath River Basin and Proposed Dam Removal Proiect Reach Source: Klamath River Renewal Corporation, 2018. Note: The figure identifies four dams proposed for removal. KCanath SettlNeet In 2010, the Secretary of the Interior, governors of Oregon and California, PacifiCorp, and 44 other parties announced two interrelated settlement agreements intended to resolve long-standing issues in the basin: the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA). The KBRA proposed actions to restore Klamath fisheries and assurances for water deliveries to wildlife refuges and project irrigators, among other things. The KHSA laid out a process for removal of four of PacifiCorp's dams; after a secretarial determination on dam removal, the dams would be transferred to DOI, which would oversee decommissioning. The dam removal project would be one of the largest and most complex ever undertaken. A third agreement involving off-project irrigators in the Upper Klamath Basin was finalized in 2014. The Klamath settlement agreements were contingent on passage of federal legislation authorizing numerous new federal activities in the basin. Legislation approving the agreements was introduced and received hearings in the 113th and 114th Congress but was not enacted. Despite this, some work under the KBRA and KHSA has proceeded under existing authorities: studies to inform the secretarial determination on dam removal were completed (the K~:> =P Klaimfiallpljjvo enewat rojed &T Wal Prq cf gognpo goo , q g 'S a X

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