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http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/01/14/news/top_stories/ztop3.txt Klamath Tribes want upstream salmon back
Published January
12, 2005
CHILOQUIN - A new license for Klamath River dams
should help get salmon upstream, the Klamath
Tribes say.
Restoring chinook salmon is the major goal of the
Tribes in the relicensing, and Tuesday they made
their case in a meeting with the staff of the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Ways of getting the fish back up to the Basin
include adding fish ladders to the dams, trucking
the fish around the dams or removing the dams
completely.
The federal officials held the three-hour meeting
to learn about the Tribes and what they have at
stake in the relicensing. The company's license to
operate the dams expires in 2006.
He said dam removal would be the best way to get
salmon into the Basin, but the Tribes are
evaluating the other options.
Whether PacifiCorp has to mitigate for the effects
of the power project on Upper Klamath Lake and the
Klamath River near Keno is one of many issues the
commission is weighing, said John Mudre, who is
managing the relicensing for the commission.
Currently, the project has six hydroelectric and
one flow-control dam. It generates 151 megawatts
of power, or about a third as much energy as the
Klamath Falls cogeneration plant. In its
application, PacifiCorp plans to shut down two
small powerhouses on the Link River and have the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation take over Keno Dam, the
regulatory dam.
"We've said all along that nothing is off of the
table," he said in an interview Tuesday.
He pointed to a collection of hand woven basket
artifacts kept in a display case in the
auditorium. After the meeting, the federal officials headed south. They are meeting with the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Hoopa, Calif., Thursday and with the Yurok Tribe in Klamath, Calif., Friday.
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