[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 30, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H7380-H7382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CHILOQUIN DAM FISH PASSAGE FEASIBILITY STUDY ACT OF 2001

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2585) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
conduct a study of the feasibility of providing adequate upstream and 
downstream passage for fish at the Chiloquin Dam on the Sprague River, 
Oregon.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2585

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Chiloquin Dam Fish Passage 
     Feasibility Study Act of 2001''.

     SEC. 2. CHILOQUIN DAM FISH PASSAGE FEASIBILITY STUDY.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall, in 
     collaboration with all interested parties, including the 
     Modoc Point Irrigation District, the Klamath Tribes, and the 
     Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, conduct a study of 
     the feasibility of providing adequate upstream and downstream 
     passage for fish at the Chiloquin Dam on the Sprague River, 
     Oregon.
       (b) Subjects.--The study shall include--
       (1) review of all alternatives for providing such passage, 
     including the removal of the dam;
       (2) determination of the most appropriate alternative;
       (3) development of recommendations for implementing such 
     alternative; and
       (4) examination of mitigation needed for upstream and 
     downstream water users, and for Klamath tribal non-
     consumptive uses, as a result of such implementation.
       (c) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Congress a 
     report on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of 
     the study by not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Walden) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. 
Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden).
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2585 is another of my bills that will address the 
current plight of fish and farmers in the Klamath Basin. The Klamath 
Basin is in both southern Oregon and northern California, and has 
Endangered Species Act-listed suckers, salmon and bald eagles. There 
are several tribes with treaty rights that must be respected.
  The Klamath Project, operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, has 
historically delivered water to about 200,000 acres. This year, 
however, the basin is experiencing a severe drought, on top of which 
the Klamath Project has been asked to provide additional water for 
species listed under the Endangered Species Act.
  The feasibility study required in this legislation is needed to 
address an imminent endangered species habitat claim against the 
Chiloquin Dam in southern Oregon, which is the Modoc Point Irrigation 
District's current gravity flow diversion source. This dam blocks 
suckers from reaching 95 percent of their former spawning and juvenile 
rearing habitat in the warm water reaches of the Sprague River.
  Several parties have identified the Chiloquin Dam as constituting a 
significant habitat problem for endangered suckers. They include: the 
Klamath Tribes, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation, Oregon 
Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Klamath Water Users 
Association.
  I have worked in consultation with the Modoc Point Irrigation 
District and the Klamath Tribes to craft this legislation requesting 
this study of this dam. The study will include review of all 
alternatives for providing passage, including removal of the dam; 
determination of the most appropriate alternative; development of 
recommendations for implementing the alternative; and examination of 
mitigation needed for upstream and downstream water users as a result 
of such implementation.
  I would also point out that this legislation was cosponsored by 
several members of this committee, including the gentleman from Oregon 
(Mr. DeFazio).
  This legislation is long overdue. The need to study this impediment 
is long overdue. Despite the crisis our Nation faces today, the farmers 
in this basin continue to face a crisis of their own, both economically 
and for their future. We need to move forward to resolve the issues 
that have blocked their ability to get water and the other help they 
need. Madam Speaker, I ask for the support of the entire House for this 
common sense, straightforward and balanced legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2585, and I note that a 
long-standing member of the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), is a cosponsor of this bill.
  Restoring fish habitat in the Klamath Basin is complicated and often 
controversial. Making decisions based on scientific studies of water 
operations and habitat requirements can help prevent more 
confrontations over scarce water supplies.
  The studies authorized by H.R. 2585 need to be carefully designed and 
carried out. These studies should consider all factors that affect fish 
survival in the basin, including the possible need to restore wetlands 
and riparian habitats. I thank the sponsor and cosponsors of this bill, 
and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2585.
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding 
me this time.

[[Page H7381]]

  Madam Speaker, I am here to support H.R. 2585 introduced by the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden). It is true that we have a great 
deal of tension and frustration in the Klamath Basin these days, and I 
commend the gentleman for taking specific steps to help relieve some of 
that pressure.
  This bill is an important step in studying alternatives for the 
improvement of fish passage for the endangered species. These 
endangered species have generated a great deal of controversy and 
attention. I for one feel that in some instances some of the 
frustration was misplaced in terms of trying to divert the blame for 
the problem in the Klamath Basin somehow to the fish themselves.
  I note with some interest that one of the Klamath Basin Native 
American leaders pointed out to me that blaming the fish for the water 
problem is a lot like blaming the gas gauge on your car if one runs out 
of gas. Having the gas gauge register empty, it is not the problem of 
the gas gauge, it is the fact that the car has run out of gas.
  What we are facing here is a condition that is the result of 
systematic action on the part of the Federal Government for over a 
century of making too many demands on scarce water in this arid basin.
  We must not lose sight of the big picture within the Klamath Basin. 
It once held 350,000 acres of shallow lakes, fresh water marshes, wet 
meadows, and seasonally flooded basins throughout southeastern Oregon 
and northern California. Today, nearly 80 percent of the basin's 
wetlands have been drained and converted to agriculture; in some cases, 
water-intensive agriculture. It is no mystery that we have run into 
problems. The Federal Government has not had appropriate policies to 
deal with the overcommitment of the water in this basin.
  Just as important, if not more important than the improvement of fish 
passage, is the restoration of wetlands to improve the spawning grounds 
of the fish that are vital to the tribes of this area and to the entire 
ecosystem.
  While I fully endorse this bill, which will authorize the feasibility 
study to improve the fish passage at Chiloquin Dam, I urge my 
colleagues and the Department of the Interior to remain aware of the 
interconnectedness of the resources and the user needs throughout the 
Klamath Basin.
  I hope that this Congress will yet come forward, when we are spending 
hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster relief, when we have a 
whole host of pressing problems, that we do not turn our back on the 
needs of the environment of the Klamath Basin, of farmers who were 
encouraged to farm there as a result of government policies, and that 
we take steps to help reclaim some of that natural environment, reduce 
the stress on water in that basin.
  Madam Speaker, this is an important step; but I hope we continue to 
look at the big picture.
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the comments of the gentleman from Oregon 
(Mr. Blumenauer) and for his willingness to support this legislation, 
and to find balanced solutions for the problems that we face in the 
Northwest.
  Madam Speaker, it is interesting, I had not visited this dam until a 
year or so ago, and at that point I invited the Modoc Point Irrigation 
District directors and the tribal leaders from there to both join me at 
the site of this dam. I did not know what to expect. I had not seen it, 
but I had heard and read a lot about it.
  As we approached the dam, walked down, the skies were dark and it 
began to pelt rain and snow, not heavily, but it was one of those cold 
wet days. As I stood and looked at this concrete obstruction that backs 
water up and then allows water to be diverted into the Modoc Point 
District, we have to make sure that they continue to get access to 
water.
  When one looks at the dam itself, the top is wood and wire and it is 
all kind of broken down and disheveled. It is a mess. There is evidence 
of three fish passage ladders, two of which have crumbled down to 
basically the rebar and the concrete. The third one against the side 
where we were standing seemed to function fairly well. The biologist 
told us there are some 700 suckers that make their way through and up 
to the upper end where the habitat is impaired, and there is a lot of 
work we can do there, I think.
  I said, How many fish try to get up here? They do not know. It is 
hard to measure success if we do not know how many are trying to get up 
versus how many that do. The long and short of it is, this has been an 
impediment for at least a decade and yet nothing has happened. Like my 
colleague, I want to make something happen. I want to try to solve 
these problems so we have a viable environment and a vibrant 
agricultural economy because I think they can co-exist in the Klamath 
Basin. The comments of the gentleman regarding farmers invited to 
settle, not only were they invited, we invited our veterans, our men 
and women who wore the uniform of this country and defended our freedom 
abroad, to participate in a lottery. We promised to give them land and 
a guarantee of water for life if they would settle and develop this 
area.

                              {time}  1615

  It is one of the oldest irrigation projects in America. It was one of 
the first.
  Over time, more and more promises have been given, more and more 
people settled. These are real people who are facing real bankruptcy 
right now. This Congress and this administration helped with a $20 
million commitment to kind of tide them over, but it is not enough. We 
have got to do more. We have got to break through some of these 
barriers and solve some of these problems if we are going to have a 
long-term solution. We have got to act quickly. This study will still 
take a year, but it is a lot less time than it would have taken if we 
did not pass this legislation because they have had 10 years to try and 
figure it out.
  The Klamath water users have put together a very comprehensive report 
on how to deal with a whole host of solutions in this basin, to improve 
habitat, to improve water quality and still have viable agriculture. A 
lot of those have fallen on deaf ears over time. Many of them were at 
the agency level and not enacted. We cannot stand by and let this 
happen. This is a huge crisis for many, many, many families. A 
thousands plus farms are affected right now, today. They do not know 
what is going to happen next year. They come to us and ask, will we 
have water? We do not know. We do not know. That is why this 
legislation and legislation to grant them other relief from operation 
and maintenance costs that is pending in the committee that is going to 
help me get it through here, and other emergency relief legislation we 
have just got to act on.
  I commend the Committee on Resources. I thank them for their effort. 
I commend my colleagues. I ask for their approval of this legislation.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2585, the 
Chiloquin Dam Fish Passage Feasibility Study Act of 2001. This bill 
takes an important step into studying alternatives for the improvement 
of fish passage for endangered fish species.
  However, we must not lose sight of the big picture within the Klamath 
Basin. The Klamath Basin once held 350,000 acres of shallow lakes, 
freshwater marshes, wet meadows, and seasonally flooded basins in 
Southeastern Oregon and Northern California. Today, nearly 80 percent 
of the Basin's wetlands have been drained and converted to agriculture.
  Just as important, if not more important than the improvement of fish 
passage, is the restoration of wetlands to improve the spawning grounds 
of the fish that are vital to tribes in the area.
  While I fully endorse this bill, which will authorize a feasibility 
study to improve fish passage at the Chiloquin Dam, I urge my 
colleagues and the Department of Interior to remain aware of the 
interconnectedness of resources and user-needs throughout the Klamath 
Basin.
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2585.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

[[Page H7382]]



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