Background:
The United States has a strong interest in addressing long standing disputes over scarce water resources and fisheries restoration in the Klamath River Basin.

Decades of water conflicts in the Klamath Basin between conservationists, tribes, farmers, fishermen and state and federal

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Agencies have recently devolved into a “rotating crisis” for Klamath Basin communities.

The United States, since 2003, has spent over $500 million in the Klamath basin for irrigation, fisheries, wildlife refuges, and other resource enhancements and management actions.

Concurrent with the rotating crisis of resource issues during the past decade, PacifiCorp, the owner of the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project (Project), submitted an application for a hydropower relicensing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

However, PacifiCorp and interested parties have since signed an agreement in principle to consider removing the lower four Project dams.

The Secretary of the Interior will make a final decision, the Secretarial Determination (SD), after determining whether removal of the four hydroelectric dams will advance restoration of the salmonid fisheries of the Klamath Basin and is in the best interest of the public.

To inform the Secretary, biological information and modeling will be necessary regarding two alternatives for management of the dams with a time horizon of 50 years starting in 202 0. Under the SD process, the best scientific evidence will be required to estimate potential impacts of dam removal or retention on Klamath Basin fisheries.

TASKS:
Review deliverables produced by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) contractor that will be developing the CEQA/NEPA compliance documents, including the Notice of Preparation, the administrative Draft EIS/EIR, and responses to comments.

Focus efforts on assuring accuracy of the technical elements of the environmental documents.

Travel as necessary to meetings related to above tasks.

TIMELINE:
The timeline of this agreement will be consistent with the timing of the Secretarial Determination.

The final EIS/EIR is expected for release in November 201 1. The draft EIS/EIR should be available for public review in March 2011, and all of the preliminary draft and draft efforts would occur before that release date, starting immediately.

SPECIFIC WORK PRODUCTS:
Review and comment on the following:
1) draft notice of preparation, 2) draft objectives, 3) draft project description, 4) various chapters of EIR during development of the administrative draft, 5) administrative draft EIR, 6) public review draft EIR, 7) responses to comments for inclusion in the final EIR and 8) the CEQA Findings.

Provide written review of studies used as part of the Determination process.