Secretay Salazar Touts Benefits of Klamath Restoration Plan

Secretary Salazar Highlights Benefits of Klamath Agreements to Commonwealth Club

“…the watershed-wide restoration program that is proposed could add more than 4,600 jobs to the regional economy over 15 years”


In a speech this morning to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, Interior Secretary Salazar revealed details of key economic and environmental benefits that would be realized by implementation of the Klamath Restoration Agreements.

The Agreements are the product of years of negotiation by Klamath Basin Tribes, irrigators, fishermen, and conservationists. These negotiations came after decades of bitter disputes over water resources, fish kills, irrigation shut-offs, and fishery closures.

“We decided to stop fighting and start talking,” according to Leaf Hillman, Natural Resources Director for the Karuk Tribe who was involved in the negotiations. “We all laid our cards on the table and real solutions emerged.”

The Agreements balance water use by capping agricultural diversions at a level that keeps farmers in business yet provides enough water for recovery of fisheries. A key feature of the plan is the enlargement of a natural lake, Upper Klamath Lake, which was mostly drained decades ago. This provides extra water storage and increases flood protection.

Today’s announcement by Secretary Salazar previews a suite of studies that inform the draft Environmental Impact Statement due out Thursday. According to Salazar, some of the benefits of the Agreements include:

• Addition of more than 4,600 jobs to the regional economy over 15 years
• a boost gross farm income and an increase of between 70 and 695 jobs annually to the agricultural economy
• ESA listed coho would reclaim 68 miles of historical habitat
• steelhead, the Klamath River’s most popular sport fishery, would regain 420 miles of historical habitat
• commercially harvested Chinook salmon production would increase by more than 80 percent

Another key fact revealed by the Secretary is that the most probable cost of removing the four dams is around $290 million in 2020 dollars, which is well below the $450 million state cost cap identified in the Dam Removal Agreement. Note that $200 million would come from ratepayers (who would otherwise foot the $500 million plus price tag for dam relicensing) and $47 million from California.

“The Klamath Agreements are an investment that will pay dividends. It’s a great example of local folks finding solutions to our struggling economy,” said Hillman.