January 16, 2008 - SFB Staff — A plan announced yesterday calls for the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to restore ailing salmon runs, which would open 300 miles of river that have not seen salmon in decades.

Fishermen, farmers, tribal leaders, environmentalists and government officials are battling over the division of Klamath Basin water between a federal irrigation project and fish protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Removal of the four dams, which would be the biggest dam-removal project in U.S. history, could occur as early as 2015. But it hinges on approval of about $500 million in new funding over 10 years, primarily from Congress, and an agreement from the dams’ owner, Portland, Ore.-based utility PacifiCorp.

Fishing restrictions designed to protect Klamath River fish have devastated the West Coast king salmon fishery in recent years.

However, the 2007 harvest, which ran from May to October but was closed in June, was more productive than the 2006 fishery. Preliminary landings reached 111,300 fish last year, up from 67,796 fish in 2006 but down from 338,557 fish in 2005 and 500,899 fish in 2004, a banner catch.