[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
[November 13, 2008]
[Pages 1369-1370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on the Klamath River Basin Conservation Agreement
November 13, 2008

    I congratulate the many people of the Klamath River Basin in Oregon 
and California who recently put forward a shared vision for conservation 
of the river. The agreement my administration announced today with 
Oregon, California, and PacifiCorp, the company that owns four 
hydropower dams on the Klamath River, will advance that vision. Federal, 
State, and private partners will now begin studying the feasibility of 
removing four hydropower dams on the river. This is the first phase of a 
long-term conservation program for upriver salmon habitats.
    This agreement turns what was a conflict into a conservation 
success. For years, there had been disagreement among irrigators, 
States, tribes, conservationists, and others. Beginning with the drought 
of 2001, the community, working in partnership with the Federal 
Government, rallied together to find a long-term solution. Since 2002, 
my administration has requested and Congress has provided approximately 
$90 million annually--a total of more than $500 million--for Klamath 
Basin activities. Working together, the Federal Government and its 
partners have restored irrigation and more than 10,000 acres of fish 
habitat and banked for conservation more than 800,000 acre-feet of 
water. These actions have provided adequate water for farmers while also 
helping species recover.
    Together, we have produced an agreement that will greatly reduce the 
risk of future shutdowns of the irrigation system.

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I applaud this example of cooperative conservation and thank everyone 
who worked to bring it about.