Oregon Public Broadcasting

The federal deadline for the final Klamath Basin agreement came and went Tuesday, without conclusion.

Last year, tribes, fisherman, and farmers signed a tentative deal to work towards removing four dams on the Klamath River.

Earlier this month, Governor Ted Kulongoski and dam owner PacifiCorp disclosed that the finalized settlement was taking longer than expected.

But in a statement tuesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement remains “within reach.”

Sean Stevens is a spokesman for conservation group Oregon Wild. His group isn’t involved in the negotiations.

Sean Stevens: “You’d have to be pretty starry-eyed to think that that deadline means much besides the paper that the press release was printed on. They said the same thing in November. That was the same group of people coming together and saying ‘were going to finalize this by June 30th’.”

The Obama Administration, and the Governors of Oregon and California, set a new deadline of September First.

A final deal could start a process that would eventually destroy four dams on the Klamath River – the largest dam breach in U.S. history.