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60 Nat. Resources J. 261 (2020)
A Road Map to Restoring Rivers: How the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement Might Influence Future Dam Removal and River Restoration Projects

handle is hein.journals/narj60 and id is 281 raw text is: James C. Ish A ROAD MAP TO RESTORING RIVERS: HOW THE KLAMATH BASIN RESTORATION AGREEMENT MIGHT INFLUENCE FUTURE DAM REMOVAL AND RIVER RESTORATION PROJECTS. ABSTRACT Throughout the United States dams are approaching the terminus of their original licensing periods and are undergoing re-licensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This period of review has prompted extensive studies in these basins to determine the cost-benefits associated with keeping these dams, versus removing and restoring the natural ecosystems that are currently inundated. In situations where a dam is deemed to be no longer economically relevant, and/or a detriment to endangered species or their critical habitat, an agreementfor removal and restoration is often proposed as the next step in the management of that basin's water resources. However, agreements to remove dams and restore aquatic habitat have been difficult to draft and finalize due in part to the wide spectrum ofpositions held by stakeholders, along with the incredible financial cost and liability involved with such an undertaking. This paper discusses the past, present, and future outlook of four such dams on the Klamath River in California and Oregon. In particular, this paper analyzes several revolutionary tactics that were used in drafting the final agreement between parties which have the potential to improve the process offuture negotiations and subsequent agreements in other basins around the United States. The Western United States has a unique and complicated history with dams. With its dramatically varying climates and low levels of annual precipitation, the arid West would not have developed into the agricultural powerhouse that it is today, nor would some of the largest cities in the nation such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Phoenix exist as they do today, without dams that provide drinking water, irrigation, and power to millions.1 Many of the large, well-known western dams such as Grand Coulee, Shasta, Hoover, and Glen Canyon were built by the federal government to support western expansion. Created by the signing of the 1902 Reclamation Act, the U.S. Reclamation Service (later renamed the Bureau of Reclamation) would become 1. See generally Water in the West, Bureau of Reclamation Historic Dams and Water Projects, Managing Water in the West, available at https://www.nps.gov/nr/testing/ReclamationDamsAndWaterProjects/WaterInThe_West.html. 261

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