What a Biden Administration could mean for Klamath water

Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo who already made history as one of the first Indigenous women elected to Congress in 2018, would be the first Indigenous person to hold a cabinet position if chosen. She currently chairs a House Natural Resources subcommittee that oversees Interior Department operations.

Tribal leaders across the country have urged Biden to put a Native American in charge of the government agency that oversees much of Indian Country and its operations. Given that Haaland has indicated her willingness to serve as Interior Secretary and that tribal nations arguably helped deliver Biden wins in key states like Arizona and Wisconsin, it’s a real possibility.

Haaland appeared at Representative Jared Huffman’s (D-Calif.) virtual forum on Klamath dam removal in August, supporting efforts by Basin tribes and environmental groups to remove PacifiCorp’s four aging dams on the Klamath and help restore the river’s dwindling salmon populations.

“It’s important to recognize that terrible water quality behind PacifiCorp’s dams and the fish diseases that plague salmon below them are more than just a cost of doing business,” she said. “These conditions strike at the heart of Native Americans ... Native people cannot be truly healthy when their river is not healthy.”

A Department of Interior run by Haaland would likely look different from previous iterations of the agency, which has struggled to forge productive relationships with tribal nations. Even current Secretary David Bernhardt’s visit to the Klamath Basin earlier this summer left tribal representatives disappointed, and the Bureau of Reclamation denied previously agreed-upon ceremonial Klamath River flows for the Yurok Tribe’s Boat Dance in September, instead diverting additional water to the Klamath Project and Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuges.

Frankie Myers, vice chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said the tribe takes the same approach to solving issues regardless of who’s in power federally.

“We believe that the long-term solutions lie in the power of the people of the basin to come together and find common solutions,” Myers said. “When those in power pick and choose favorites, it undermines the ability of people who live here to come together and come to terms with the reality of tribal rights and tribal sovereignty.”

While dam removal doesn’t hinge on federal actions beyond oversight by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Trump Administration’s relative silence on the subject may stand in stark contrast to Biden’s. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris signed a letter in April urging FERC to expedite the license transfer process that would have allowed the Klamath River Renewal Corporation to move forward with dam removal. (FERC since authorized a partial license transfer, ostensibly keeping PacifiCorp on the hook during the removal and sending Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement signatories back to the negotiation table.)

“It is exciting that we’ll have a California senator endorsing Klamath dam removal sitting in the White House,” said Craig Tucker, natural resources director for the Karuk Tribe.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said he hopes a Biden administration will provide better communication from the bully pulpit about dam removal and other water issues.

“The Trump people never really laid out that the dams are privately held and that their owner is pursuing removal not because of politics, they’re pursuing it as a business decision,” Wyden said. “My hope is that the Biden folks, when they come in, will recognize how important this issue is.”

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said he thinks the next administration will be more cooperative in helping KHSA parties work through the execution of the agreement.

“We do have to have a team at FERC that’s working in partnership,” Merkley said.

Both Oregon senators stressed bipartisan efforts with Representative Greg Walden (R-Hood River) that led to progress in the basin, like the $10 million freed up for drought relief in October, as evidence that groups working together is the best way to come up with long-term solutions to the basin’s water issues.

Merkley said he’s looking forward to continuing that cooperation with incoming Representative Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario), who will replace Walden after his more than 20 years in office.

“I’ve always found him very friendly, very willing to talk about issues,” Merkley said. “I think he’ll be a good partner in Congress.”

Bentz, who made a point to meet with various stakeholder groups in the basin throughout his campaign and said he will continue to do so, pointed to his experience in the Oregon legislature as preparation for entering a divided Washington. For him, knowing as much as possible about a particular issue is paramount.

“Whatever the solution might be is going to require a complete understanding of the problem,” he said.

Reflecting on the last four years, Tucker said there’s been some productive conversations. But overall, he feels the Trump Administration did not install federal leadership that would have fostered lasting change in the basin.

“We didn’t really tackle the big-ticket, difficult items,” he said. “We’ve struggled to have adequate flows in our rivers no matter who was president, but I do think in particular this last administration was not interested in talking and solving problems.”

While no one knows yet whether the Biden Administration will play favorites or try to bring all stakeholders to the table, there’s a hope that his message of unity and bipartisan cooperation will translate to the latter. Still, Biden will likely inherit one of the most divided governments in U.S. history.

Keppen said the Klamath Basin provides an opportunity to bridge those partisan gaps, because most of its stakeholders understand that litigation and political favors are no substitute for long-lasting agreements.

“The bipartisan cooperation that’s occurred on Klamath has been encouraging, and it’s pretty exceptional,” he said.