Oregon Public Broadcasting

A dam in the Klamath Basin will shut down its hydroelectric operations for part of the year to help endangered fish known as suckers. Pete Springer reports.

PacifiCorp operates the Link River Dam in Klamath Falls.

The utility made a deal this month with the conservation group Oregon Wild to shut down the Link River Dam when endangered suckers are spawning so the fish don’t end up in the turbines.

PacifiCorp has also agreed to put 22-percent of its proceeds from the dam into conservation projects to protect endangered fish in the region.

Sean Stevens, with Oregon Wild, calls the settlement a model for how to solve water resource conflicts in the Klamath Basin.

Sean Stevens: “We do see this settlement as something where we got together, we had honest negotiations where there was give and take and we came up with something that was good for both parties involved and specifically good for the fish that we’re trying to recover down there.”

Both PacifiCorp and Oregon Wild say this settlement is a key step to solving other arguments over water and fish in the Klamath Basin.