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| "Farmers in the upper basin are the only ones who receive a guarantee of water in the deal. The fish get what's left over." Greg King, Executive Director NEC |
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NEC hosts Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement meeting October 8th: Is there any water left for fish?
September 10, 2008 -- ARCATA — The Northcoast Environmental Center will host a public presentation of the complex and controversial Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement (KBRA) on Wednesday, Oct. 8, from 7 p.m. to 9
p.m. at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka.
The KBRA is a 256-page document created by 28 parties over a two-year
period. It has been more than six months since the Klamath Settlement
Group has met to finalize the Agreement, owing to the absence of an
agreement with PacifiCorp to decommission four hydroelectric dams on
the Klamath River mainstem.
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The NEC had preferred to wait for release of a dam agreement before
offering a public presentation on the Restoration Agreement. However,
with the "hydro agreement" now nearly one year overdue, the NEC
has chosen to move forward without it. "We really can't wait any longer for the dam deal," said Greg King, executive director of the NEC. "There's a chance we will see such a deal by the end of this month, but negotiators have promised us a hydro agreement several times during the past year and each
deadline has been announced and then passed with no result. So
whereas the two agreements are linked — the Restoration Agreement
dies on the vine unless negotiators strike a deal to remove the four
dams — it's time for the public to hear our thoughts on the water
deal."
Last March the NEC rejected the KBRA as written because "it puts all
the risk on the fish," said King. "Farmers in the upper basin are
the only ones who receive a guarantee of water in the deal. The fish
get what's left over."
That month the NEC recommended several changes to Draft 11 of the
Restoration Agreement that would allow the organization to "sign
on" and support the deal through legislation and implementation.
However, the Settlement Group drafting committee has yet to produce a
twelfth draft of the Agreement owing to the absence of measures to
remove the four dams.
The NEC's recommended changes, the reasons for them, and the
Restoration Agreement as a whole will be the focus of the Oct. 8
presentation. After the presentation the public will be invited to
comment and ask questions.
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Greg King
Executive Director
Northcoast Environmental Center
1465 G Street
Arcata, CA 95521
(707) 822-6918
greg@yournec.org
http://www.yournec.org