Correction appended
Dozens of groups in Klamath County, who for years have been steeped in political skirmishes over the Klamath River’s coveted water supply, agreed on a deal Thursday that proposes the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. 
If the deal was to be approved, the removal of the dams would represent the largest river restoration project ever undertaken in the United States.
The agreement, signed in Salem on Feb. 18, involved a multitude of federal, state, utility and tribal officials, including Gov. Ted Kulongoski, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.            
The four dams that would be removed — one in Oregon and three in California — are owned by the PacifiCorp. 
To the ire of environmental groups and tribal fishermen, the dams block a 350-mile long stretch of salmon runs. This prevents the fish from swimming upstream to spawn and has endangered several species, including Coho salmon.
Though the plan’s proponents are excited about its potential to quell controversy over water issues in the Klamath Basin and restore the Klamath River, the deal is not certain.
The deal calls for conditions on the river to be studied and submitted to Salazar for a final decision. Salazar’s deadline for making the decision is not until 2012. 
In a press release last week, Salazar voiced his support for the agreement.
“The Klamath River, which for years was synonymous with controversy, is now a stunning example of how cooperation and partnership can resolve difficult conflicts,” Salazar said. “The agreements provide a path forward to meet the needs of local communities, tribes, farmers, fishermen and other stakeholders while restoring a beautiful river and its historic salmon runs.”
Other groups who have taken a stake in the debate include the Yurok, Klamath, Karuk and Hoopa Valley Tribes; Oregon and California farmers; and environmental advocacy groups such as American Rivers, Trout Unlimited and Oregon Wild.
Sean Stevens, communications associate for Oregon Wild, said his group withdrew their support from the deal because it did not do enough to defend environmental interests.
“If the Secretary approves of the dam removals, the process of demolition will begin no sooner than the year 2020,” Stevens said. “Oregon Wild believes this timeline could and should be accelerated. The salmon cannot wait.”
Stevens said the Hoopa Valley Tribe of Northern California also withdrew support from the deal, because they believe it strips them of tribal water and fishing rights.
Access to the water from the Klamath River has been so hotly contested that the issue has become known simply as the “Klamath Water Wars.”  
Klamath County Commissioner John Elliott said this deal was a positive step for an issue that has been deadlocked in controversy for years.
“The deal is designed first to ensure an adequate supply (of water) to agriculture, second, to ensure that water will be available to people if we have another shortage, as we did back in 2001, and third, to assist the endangered species — the Coho and sucker fish — in the Klamath River Basin’s rivers and lakes,” Elliott said. “I think there was a critical mass necessary to affect the agreement, and in terms of getting enough people to the table, I think we did that. Of course no deal is going to satisfy all the people all the time.”
Stevens said that a deal did need to be brokered, but that in his opinion this deal was not sufficient. He also expressed doubts that this deal, with its ample price tag, would make it
through Congress.
“Given the fact that the deal will cost nearly $1 billion (without any of that money going to fund dam removal), its prospects in Congress are uncertain,” Stevens said. “Also complicating matters is the fact that $150 million in the settlement are direct special interest subsidies for the irrigators to get subsidized power rates and to manage their own water plan. Having irrigation interests manage their own water plan is like having the fox guard the hen house at taxpayer expense.”
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