Klamath River Dams

Floor Speech

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Mr. BENTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman LaMalfa for allowing me time to address this important issue.

The destruction of the Klamath Dam is a classic case of misdiagnosing the problem and then applying the wrong remedy.

Destroying the dams on the Klamath will not save the salmon. Returning more river habitat to its natural state will not save the salmon. Stealing all the water from farmers and ranchers and putting it in streams will not save the salmon.

Why not?

Because the main problem facing salmon is not the dams. The main problems facing the salmon are the conditions salmon face in the ocean.

There may be, someday, a modest benefit to these fish after the dams have been removed, and when millions upon millions of tax dollars are spent on habitat recovery, but these misplaced efforts will not bring fish runs back.

Whatever the modest improvement might be, it will not be worth the loss of the clean electrical power that has been created by these dams. Certainly, the few additional fish that return will not justify increased flows of water taken from farmers.

Why?

Because, again, habitat is not the issue.

There are hundreds of miles of unused habitat, and the volume of water is not the issue. For the past 20 years, the water flows, using water taken from farmers, exceeded what would have been available in the Klamath River under natural conditions. Despite this additional water, these fish have not recovered.

Again, the problems facing the fish that need to be solved are those found in the ocean. If further evidence of this is needed, look at what has happened on the Elwha River in Washington State. Two dams were removed over 10 years ago, and there has still been no increase in fish.

Who is it really that bears the brunt of the damage occurring as a result of the destruction of these four dams? Who is it that actually suffers?

First and foremost, the fish. They are the real losers in this entirely misdirected exercise. The National Marine Fisheries Service is being derelict in its duty to study and then protect salmon against the challenges they face in the sea.

Secondly, the farmers of the Klamath Basin. These people are truly bearing the costs of shutting down and now removing these dams. First came the loss of the low-cost electrical power generated by the four dams that made possible movement of massive volumes of irrigation and bird refuge water across the Klamath Basin.

Then came the taking of farmers' water to flush fish down the river to the sea, and now the stealing of even more of the farmers' water to clean up, by flushing to the ocean, a huge portion of the 20 million cubic yards of silt and mud left from destruction of the dams.

It is the total loss of the value of the farmers' land, much of it being farmed by third- and fourth-generation family members, that is the real and unforgivable travesty.

This inequitable and unjust consequence of the imposition of the ESA, the Endangered Species Act, must be and will be addressed in the Subcommittee on Natural Resources.

The third problem we face is the millions of costs in dollars by the electrical ratepayers of Oregon and California and the Nation. Remember, the dams are private property. There is a tax adjustment somewhere on the books of PacifiCorp that I am guessing is in the numerous millions.

Finally, the millions upon millions of wildfowl that once used the Klamath refuges as an important part of the Pacific flyway can't. We will not have the thousands of acres of water that once upon a time supplied these birds with clean water delivered by dam-driven electrical pumps.

There are many more victims of removal, but time does not permit further discussion. Sadly, the one predictable thing that is going to emerge from this billion-dollar exercise in self-destruction will be the ultimate conclusion that the salmons' most challenging existential issues are ocean trawler and predation based.

These obvious and inconvenient facts will not be accepted until every drop of water has been wrung out of every farm and ranch in the Klamath, taking with it the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers and cities in the upper reaches of that basin.

The spotted owl debacle was the last time this many thousands of people and businesses were sacrificed up on the altar of flawed science. The last time the ESA ruined this many people's lives, it was loggers and their communities. This time it is the ranchers and farmers, who, according to courts, bureaucrats, and environmentalists, are expendable. I assure you they are not.

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