Chair Dingfelder, Vice-Chair Atkinson, and Committee Members:

Thank you for your interest in the Klamath Basin and for holding a public hearing on SB 76.

WaterWatch has worked for many years in the Klamath Basin and is very supportive of removal of PacifiCorp’s four lower Klamath dams. To this end, we are supportive of the core concept in SB 76: to allow PacifiCorp to recover certain dam removal costs from its Oregon ratepayers that the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) determines to be prudent.

However, WaterWatch does have concerns with the bill as drafted.  First, while what is now section 4(10) in the dash-two amendments has been significantly improved, the bill should be amended to require a refund to ratepayers of monies collected for the removal of a dam if that dam is ultimately not removed. PacifiCorp could proceed through the standard OPUC process and prudency review to recover allowed costs associated with relicensing any remaining dam.     

Second, WaterWatch fundamentally disagrees with the continued linkage between dam removal and the deeply flawed draft Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA). SB 76 continues this linkage by using the Final Agreement as the trigger for collection of dam removal funds. The Final Agreement is expected to repeat the Agreement in Principle’s declaration that it is “indivisible” with the draft KBRA.   

If dam removal is found prudent by the OPUC and is the best choice for the ratepayers, dam removal should not be jeopardized by or linked to the flawed draft KBRA. The draft KBRA faces an uncertain future with its 985 million dollar budget, defective water deal that promises water for the Klamath Irrigation Project but not for the river or fish, and multiple special contracts. Released over a year ago, the draft KBRA (V.11) has never been finalized, no subsequent version has been released, and critical pieces – such as the Drought Plan – are apparently still missing. Further, WaterWatch continues to question why the State of Oregon would agree to support fifty years of large-scale commercial agriculture on the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges as part of a dam removal deal. SB 76 should clearly state that it is not linked to the flawed KBRA in any form.

Thank you for allowing WaterWatch to testify on this important bill.  We look forward to assisting with further refinement of the bill during the work session.

Contact:   

Lisa Brown, 503-295-4039 lisa (at) waterwatch (dot) org
John DeVoe, 503-295-4039 john (a) waterwatch (dot) org