Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Utility agrees to removal of 4 Klamath River dams
It won't happen until after 2020, but is seen as vital to restoring California's dwindling salmon stocks. The decommissioning would be the nation's largest and most complex dam removal project.
Klamath River dam
By Bettina Boxall
September 30, 2009
In a major boost for California's dwindling salmon stocks, a utility company has agreed to the removal of four hydroelectric dams that for decades have blocked fish migrations on one of the West Coast's most important salmon rivers.
The dam decommissioning is vital to restoring the Klamath River, which for years has been the subject of bitter feuding among farmers, fishermen and tribal interests.
It would open historic salmon spawning and rearing grounds on the upper reaches of the river, which winds from southern Oregon through the Cascades and Coast Ranges to California's Pacific Coast.
"We can't restore the river solely by removing the dams, but we can't restore the Klamath without removing the dams," said Steve Rothert of the environmental group American Rivers, one of 29 parties negotiating the dam settlement.
Backers say the decommissioning -- which still must be approved by the federal government -- would be the nation's largest and most complex dam removal project.
"We're about to make changes to the Klamath Basin that will be observable from space," said Craig Tucker of the Karuk tribe, which traditionally fished for salmon.
For PacifiCorp, the Portland, Ore., utility that owns the dams, consenting to the end of the J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1 and 2 and Iron Gate dams ultimately was a business decision.
The utility, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway empire, faced litigation and expensive relicensing requirements for the dams, the oldest of which dates to 1918.
"As a utility, we don't typically take dams out," said Dean Brockbank, PacifiCorp's lead negotiator. "We have achieved an agreement that is in the best interest of our customers -- the lowest cost and risk compared to the alternative."
Under the draft settlement, which the parties hope to sign by the end of the year, PacifiCorp would continue to operate the dams until 2020. Then they would transfer the hydropower facilities to another entity, likely the federal government, for dismantling.
The Interior Department has to make a determination that the dams' removal will be in the public interest, a sign-off that Brockbank said is not guaranteed but that the company expects to get.
"This agreement marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Klamath River and for the communities whose health and way of life depend on it," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.
The settlement terms call for PacifiCorp ratepayers in Oregon and California to pay a surcharge to finance a company contribution of up to $200 million for dam removal and river restoration. California also would provide as much as $250 million in bond money.
"We're hopeful this will result in dam removal, but a number of things have to occur before that can happen," said Kirk Miller, deputy secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. "It is a complicated matter."
The dams, which range in height from 33 feet to 173 feet and are spread across 65 miles of the Klamath, haven't just kept chinook and coho salmon out of the upper river and its tributaries. They also have hurt water quality.
In the summer, stagnant pools of warm water behind the dams become a breeding ground for toxic algae.
The Klamath Basin made national headlines early this decade when federal water managers cut irrigation deliveries to preserve fish flows, sparking protests from irate farmers. The following year, when more water was released to agriculture, tens of thousands of salmon died, floating in the river's shallow waters and washing up on its banks.
"We are redefining what restoration and collaboration means in a place that has historically been the West's most notorious watershed for lawsuits, civil strife, guns in public," said Chuck Bonham of Trout Unlimited, an environmental group that works to preserve fish habitat.
Along with the Columbia and the Sacramento rivers, the Klamath has traditionally been one of the country's most productive salmon rivers. But the West Coast salmon stocks have been in such poor shape that for the last three years, California has canceled its commercial salmon fishing season.
The Klamath has "been dammed and polluted nearly to death," said Glen Spain, northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assns.
The dam settlement follows an earlier restoration agreement that also is due to be signed by the end of the year.
The restoration proposal has come under fire from some environmental groups that complain it preserves irrigation deliveries for Klamath Basin farms at the expense of fish and also allows continued farming in wildlife refuges with critical wetlands.
"Dam removal is still tied to this albatross," said Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild.
Jeffrey Mount, founding director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and a member of the American Rivers board, warned that tearing down the dams would not solve all of the Klamath's water quality problems.
"There is this assumption that a miracle will occur when the dams come down," he said. "Removal of the dams does not address the broader problems of the basin."
He described Upper Klamath Lake, which feeds the river, as a "big, warm, green pile of goo" that could make things worse for the fish once the dams are gone.
Still, he added, "This is incredibly exciting."
bettina.boxall@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Friday, September 11, 2009
Support the Penan’s Rainforest mobilization
Thousands of Indigenous Penans have been mobilized for the past 5 weeks in what is being viewed as “one final effort” to protect their forest lands in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
The mobilization began five weeks ago, with the Penan erecting a set of blockades on roads used by “the robber barons” of the Rainforest; namely: Samling, Hill International, Shin Yang, KTS, CMS and Rimbunan Hijau.
Survival International reported at the time that Malaysian police forces were at the blockades, however they were not making any arrests. Fortunately, it appears that they still haven’t made any arrests, save one Penan leader who was taken into custody by a group of 10 police officers, for allegedly restraining workers at an illegal oil palm plantation on his land.
The mobilization gathered a bit of steam on Indigenous Peoples Day, August 9, 2009, when the Malaysian Indigenous Peoples Organisations Coalition called for a moratorium on large-scale plantations and other extractive activities on Penan lands (traditional lands) until such time that the Malaysian government puts in measures to safeguard the environment and the Penan’s rights.
Then, on Aug 20, Twelve more villages organizes three more blockades. The police visited each one a few days later. According to the Penan, the police told them that they would soon return ‘with others’ to dismantle the blockades. The Penan now fear that a police confrontation may be imminent.
Just before the police made their rounds, the Penan received a demoralizing blow at the hands of the Borneo Post, the largest English daily in Borneo. The Post claimed that the Pena were being led by a group of “foreign instigators.” Abang Johari, the former Minister of Penan affairs and current Minister of Housing, supported the claim.
It might as well have been ripped straight out of the unofficial Uribe/Garcia Handbook on manufacturing consent for all the truth it held. The foreigners turned out to be journalists from the Agence France Presse (AFP) who were conducting interviews with the Penan.
Perhaps it was an innocent mistake. Either way, there should be no confusion about why the Penan have mobilized themselves, much like Indigenous People have done this year in Peru, Colombia, Honduras, Brazil, Ecuador and even Canada.
The forest is their home. It’s where they’ve lived for centuries. And when the last tree have been cut down, and the last drop of water has been poisoned, the Penan will have nothing. Their economy will be gone, their food and medicine will be gone, their culture, identity and sacred sites—everything will cease to exist.
The Penan do not want this to happen. How could they? It’s involuntary suicide. The Penan want to live.
What you can do
If you would like to show your support for the Penan, you can take part in a protest campaign that was initiated today, September 7, 2009 by Rainforest Rescue (Rettet den Regenwald).
Head over to the Rainforest Portal to take part in the campaign. It will only take 20 seconds.
For more information and updates, visit http://brimas.www1.50megs.com/, and http://www.bmf.ch. Thanks to Rani for the heads up.
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