Hydropower Reform and the Impact of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 on the Klamath Basin: Renewed Optimism or Same Old Story?

Abstract:     
Focusing on the Klamath Basin, this Article examines the major hydropower relicensing provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; evaluates the relevant provisions of the Department of Interior's implementing regulations for section 241 of the Energy Policy Act; and discusses two significant opinions, one administrative and one judicial, that will undoubtedly impact the water users and managers in the Basin. Finally, the Article briefly discusses factors outside of the FERC relicensing process, including the resolution of the legal challenge to the 2001 water curtailment, the results of the challenge to the most recent biological opinion for the coho salmon in the Klamath River, and the pending Fifth Amendment Takings litigation in the Court of Federal Claims that may also contribute to a changed dynamic among the various stakeholders.

Keywords: hydropower, Klamath Basin,Energy Policy Act of 2005, FERC relicensing

Accepted Paper Series