What do California clean water permits have to do with Klamath dam removal?
The last regulatory hoop that PacifiCorp must jump through in order for FERC to issue a new dam license (or deny license application) is the acquisition of a Clean Water Permit from CA and OR. In California, the issuance of such a permit is handled by the CA Water Resources Control Board and must be compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) – this means a public review process that could take 1-2 years. The Water Board’s consideration of PacifiCorp’s clean water application could end with a permit requiring mitigation measures – such as a water treatment facility of some sort to deal with the massive blooms of toxic blue-green algae – or else they could deny PacifiCorp’s application if they find that no mitigation measures exist that could address the dams’ water quality impacts. The latter option would likely lead to dam removal since it would preclude FERC from issuing a new license. The State Water Board is now taking what are called “scoping” comments on what t
