September 18, 2019
Liz Writes Life
After a 92-degree day at my place, last Saturday, I did not
believe it would actually rain (it was a drizzle) on Sunday night. But it did!
The weather forecasters are saying cooler temps and drizzles several days this
week. Yay! Boy, am I ready for fall. In checking the weather, it doesn’t look
like it will freeze for several more weeks, but my plants are slowing down. My
goal is to clean-up the garden this fall and have it ready to go next spring. I
haven’t done that for several years and April and May have been exhausting,
because of all the work. Yep, good intentions! Ha, ha.
POW
The next Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting is Thursday,
Sept. 26, 2019 and I haven’t finished reporting on the last one. So here goes.
Ray Haupt, Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, introduced Tom
Jackson, who was in attendance at the August meeting. Tom is a long-time friend
of Ray’s, whose family were early pioneers settling in the Weed area. Tom is a
local historian with extensive knowledge of Native Americans.
Ray then touted the recent article about the Klamath dams in
“Range” magazine written by local author Theodora Johnson. The proposed removal
of four Klamath hydro-electric dams is a long, complicated and convoluted
issue, but Theo “boiled it down to where it is easy to understand,” Ray said.
Because he read the article, an attorney from a law firm in Medford
called Ray. He was quite concerned. Years ago, the senior partner of the law
firm worked on the legislation that created irrigation for Jackson County from
the Klamath River. Yep, much of the agricultural irrigation for the pear
orchards and winery grapes is from the upper Klamath River.
Howard Prairie Lake
is one of the storage lakes from that legislation. He was quite frustrated the
Jackson Co. Commissioners are not involved, because a loss of irrigation water
will certainly affect Jackson County’s economy.
Also, a county supervisor from Del Norte has woke-up and is
concerned its harbor will fill with sediment from the destruction of the dams.
Apparently, dredging out the harbor is an expensive operation.
Then, Ray mentioned he has received phone calls from Copco
area residents upset about big equipment from a construction company doing work
(and survey) in their area. The impression is that work has begun on taking the
dams out. This is not the case.
Dam removal is not a done deal!
Kiewit is the contractor, who was awarded the job by
non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp. to do preliminary work, doing drilling
to understand the ground sloping, underground water situations and taking soil
samples. Kiewit would also be the contractor to do dam removal, if KRRC is able
to obtain ownership of the hydro-electric licenses from PacifiCorp. Yep, KRRC
does not even own the dams, so how could they remove them?
First, KRRC must obtain the hydro-electric licenses through
the Federal Energy Resource Commission. This is where the process stands right
now.
It is under FERC that both federal and California
environmental processes must be completed. And, they have not yet been
completed. This is where Siskiyou Co. and other groups have weighed-in
detailing significant aspects of the environmental studies that must be
addressed and or mitigated.
Ray said the county sent a letter through its law firm to
FERC highlighting the many aspects of KRRC’s Definite Plan, which have not been
addressed. I obtained a copy of this long and detailed letter.
Here are some troublesome points from that letter:
So far, non-profit KRRC has not shown that it has the
adequate funding to complete the $450 million dam removal project. Through
investigation, the county states the actual cost will be more than $450
million. Where will that funding come from?
Removing the dams by KRRC is a “complex experiment” that will
have potential impacts on “imperiled species, water quality, and overall health
of the Klamath River ecosystem, as well as socioeconomic impacts on the local
community.”
“KRRC does not have the capability to sufficiently manage
project risk,” according to the county’s letter to FERC. The letter explains
that KRRC is a recently-created shell corporation with “no track record” and is
incapable of self-insuring.
The county also states: “The License Transfer Process Should
Not Be Used By PacifiCorp to Escape Responsibility for the Responsible
Decommissioning of a Long Held Project.” Again, the risk of huge liability
problems must be fully addressed by PacifiCorp, FERC and KRRC.
Loy and John Beardsmore, who own a home and property in
Copco, have also sent a long, questioning letter to FERC. They are interveners
in the process and as such carry weight as well. A major frustration by the
Beardsmores is the loss of fire suppression resources, when the Copco and Irongate
lakes no longer have water.
The Beardsmore’s letter covers many of same concerns as the
county, including correctly finalizing the environmental studies. A National
Environmental Policy Act process has not been completed, which is a must. So
far, environment studies, including California processes, are still in draft
form.
Recently, KRRC claimed that the denial of water quality
certification from the California Water Resources Control Board was not a
problem and dam removal was still imminent. Wow, what a flat-out lie.
I also have a copy of the State Water Board’s denial letter
in which Eileen Sobeck, Executive Director, states: “At this time, the State
Water Board is unable to certify that the Project will comply with California
water quality standards and other appropriate requirements of state law because
of recent changes to the proposed Project requiring evaluation, the pendency of
information requests, and the ongoing work necessary to comply with CEQA. The
KRRC is hereby notified that the September 4, 2018, request for water quality
certification for the Project is denied without prejudice, effective the date
of this letter.” That date was Sept. 3, 2019.
So, until environmental federal and state regulations,
including water quality requirements, are met – the removal of the Klamath dams
is not a done deal. Please do not be deceived. There are governmental processes
that must be finalized, before the dams will be destroyed by KRRC. Our county
and other interveners are boldly holding government agencies’ feet to the fire.
Liz Bowen began writing ranch and
farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County
and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at:
lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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