[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS -6/16/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

June 16, 2009

 

3. Watersheds

 

 

 

Beetle-ravaged forests prompt pleas for aid

San Francisco Chronicle

 

 

Oregon House backs Klamath dam removal bill

Siskiyou Daily News

 

 

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Beetle-ravaged forests prompt pleas for aid

San Francisco Chronicle-6/16/09

By Joan Lowy

 

Officials from Rocky Mountain states urged Congress on Tuesday help them avert a potential catastrophe this summer as they grapple with millions of acres of beetle-ravaged pines that are prone to fire.

 

Local government officials and forestry experts told the House Natural Resources Committee at a hearing Tuesday that small towns, ski resorts, water supplies and electricity transmission lines surrounded by dead or dying forests are at risk for wildfires.

 

"The inevitable looms on the horizon like a gathering storm," John Rich, a commissioner from Jackson County, Colo., said in prepared testimony. "Shame on us if we do not heed the storm clouds and fail to take the actions necessary to adequately prepare."

 

Rich quoted Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a former Colorado senator, as describing the mountain pine beetle infestation as the "Katrina of the West."

 

The pine beetle epidemic, which hit Colorado in 1996, has spread to more 2 million acres in the state. U.S. Forest Service officials have predicted that by the end of 2013, beetles will kill most of the state's lodgepole pines, the predominant pine at higher elevations.

 

Other severely affected states include Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. In Canada, more than 22 million acres have been affected and scientists suspect that the death of so many trees is altering local weather patterns and air quality.

 

"In spite of the state's best efforts, resources are limited and it is incumbent upon the federal government to act more aggressively to suppress and prevent fires," two Colorado lawmakers said in joint testimony.

 

State Sen. Dan Gibbs and state Rep. Christine Scanlan also said they want the federal government to help create a market for wood products — including wood pellets that can be burned to create energy — made from the dead trees.#

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/06/16/national/w001643D04.DTL

 

 

Oregon House backs Klamath dam removal bill

Siskiyou Daily News-6/15/09

By Brad Cain

 

The Oregon House approved a bill Friday to impose a surcharge on PacifiCorp customers to pay for removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to help restore salmon runs.

 

The legislation supports a tentative agreement among farmers, fishermen, tribes and others to settle a lengthy water struggle in the Klamath Basin.

Under the measure, up to $200 million would be collected from customers of PacifiCorp, the utility that owns the dams. The company estimates the average residential customer would pay an extra $1.50 a month over 10 years.

 

The measure, which now returns to the Senate for action on House amendments, was approved 34-24 over the objections of some Republican lawmakers.

 

Under the legislation, the utility surcharge would raise $180 million from Oregon customers of PacifiCorp, while another $20 million would come from the utility’s California customers.

 

Further, the state of California is expected to ask voters to approve up to $250 million in bonds to cover the rest of the tab for dam removal.#

 

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x702341913/Oregon-House-backs-Klamath-dam-removal-bill

 

 

 

 

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