Final EIR Released For Klamath Dam Removal Project That Could Soon Become A Reality (Update)
After its initial Environmental Impact Statement release by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in February suggested the Klamath Dam removal project was likely, the final EIS was put out on Friday, giving the project a chance to begin sometime in early 2023.
The abstract for the full EIS recommends the project as a go:
Final EIS Lower Klamath Project Klamath Hydroelectric Project
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) prepared a final environmental impact statement for the license surrender, decommissioning and removal of the Lower Klamath Hydroelectric Project No. 14803-001, on the Klamath River in Klamath County, Oregon, and in Siskiyou County, California. The project occupies approximately 400 acres of federal land administered by the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management and consists of four developments: J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate. Project removal and implementation of mitigation measures proposed in management plans would protect environmental resources, restore project lands, minimize adverse effects, maximize benefits to protected fish, and restore the landscape of the areas that are currently impounded within the project reach to a more natural state. Commission staff recommends approval of the proposed license surrender, decommissioning and removal of the project with staff additional recommendations and mandatory conditions. If authorized by the Commission, license surrender would only become effective after all measures required by the surrender order are adequately completed.
Here’s the FERC report press release:
Commission Staff prepared a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the surrender, decommissioning, and removal of project works of the Lower Klamath Hydroelectric Project No. 14803.
On November 17, 2020, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation and PacifiCorp filed an amended application for surrender of the license and removal of project works for the Lower Klamath Hydroelectric Project, located on the Klamath River in Klamath County, Oregon, and in Siskiyou County, California. The project occupies approximately 400 acres of federal land administered by the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and consists of four developments: J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate.
The Commission issued a license for the original Klamath Hydroelectric Project No. 2082, in January 1954. The license expired in 2006, and in 2004, PacifiCorp filed an application to relicense the project. Filing of the surrender application follows PacifiCorp’s decision not to relicense the Klamath Project, as recommended in Commission staff’s 2007 EIS in which staff analyzed various alternatives to licensing the project, but ultimately recommended issuing a new license with mandatory conditions, including provisions for fish passage. PacifiCorp determined that implementing those conditions would require operating the project at a loss. Since 2007, negotiations among the parties have led to the development of two transfer applications, an amendment application to create the Lower Klamath Project, and the amended surrender application.
The primary issues associated with license surrender and removal of project works are: potential effects on aquatic biota, including Chinook salmon, Endangered Species Act-listed coho salmon and suckers, and other fish and wildlife species; adequacy of measures proposed to restore vegetation on formerly inundated lands; effects on riverine and reservoir-based recreation; effects on local property owners due to effects on waterfront access, wells, firefighting/prevention, slope stability, reservoir aesthetics, and property values, as well as effects on traffic, emergency response times, air quality, and noise during construction; effects of dewatering on culturally important sites and removal of historic project features; and socioeconomic effects on disadvantaged communities. A draft EIS was made available on February 25, 2022.
Commission staff have addressed comments filed on the draft EIS and modified the document where appropriate. In the final EIS, Commission staff recommends the staff alternative, which consists of mitigation measures included in the application, as well as mandatory conditions made by state and federal agencies, and additional measures developed by Commission staff.
From the Eureka Times-Standard:
The federal agency that regulates hydroelectric dams has issued its final environmental impact statement for the removal of the dams on the Klamath River a month earlier than expected and that could mean dam removal would begin early next year.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday issued its final environmental impact statement with staff recommending the commission approve the Klamath River Renewal Corporation’s application to remove the J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate dams from the Klamath River.
“Commission staff finds that any short- and long-term adverse environmental effects and the loss of power generation resulting from the proposed action would be outweighed by the substantial long-term environmental benefits gained from project decommissioning,” the environmental report states.
You can download and read the full EIS here and we’ll update if there’s more reaction from the final release.
Update: Cal Trout, which has been a driving force in dam removals on the Klamath and Eel Rivers, released a statement:
Today marks a major step towards the removal of the lower four Klamath dams. On August 26, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Klamath River Renewal project. California Trout is very pleased to report that FERC staff are recommending approval of the proposed license surrender, decommissioning, and removal of the project with staff modifications and mandatory conditions. Removal of the Klamath dams has been the subject of national attention for nearly two decades.
The final EIS states: “Project removal and implementation of mitigation measures proposed in management plans would protect environmental resources, restore project lands, minimize adverse effects, maximize benefits to protected fish, and restore the landscape of the areas that are currently impounded within the project reach to a more natural state. Commission staff recommends approval of the proposed license surrender, decommissioning and removal of the project with staff additional recommendations and mandatory conditions.”
The Klamath dams currently block salmon and steelhead from reaching more than 300 miles of spawning and rearing habitat in the upper basin. Historically, the Upper Klamath-Trinity Rivers spring-run Chinook salmon was the most abundant run on the river. Today less than 3% remain, in large part because they cannot access historical habitat in the Upper Klamath Basin.
Over 40 organizations, irrigation districts, and many Native American Tribes support taking the dams out. Tribal leadership has been a central component of the dam removal effort. The Yurok, Karuk and Klamath River Tribes have led the effort to restore part of their cultural heritage and subsistence fishing for salmon and lamprey.
Congratulations on this milestone to all the people and organizations that have worked hard for the last 20 years on getting the Klamath dams taken down.
And here’s reaction from California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham issued the following statement on the release today by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(opens in new tab) (FERC) of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed decommissioning of four dams on the Klamath River:
“We applaud the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff for issuing the final EIS ahead of schedule and for validating license surrender and dam removal as the right thing to do. While we continue to review the document, we welcome this critical milestone and look forward to advancing what will be the largest dam removal project in U.S. history and restoration of 400 miles of the Klamath River for the benefit of salmon, Tribes and communities in the basin. The final EIS along with the Department of the Interior’s recent funding for the Klamath River Basin under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and leadership from Oregon and California all point toward now being the time to solve many of the basin’s long-running restoration and water challenges.”
