This image is trying to map out all of the connections that occur between the actors involved in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and their relationships with the four main branches of systematic environmental theory: ontology, epistemology, ethics, and politics.
The basic breakdown of the Klamath situation is as follows. Main actors include federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, native tribes of the Klamath Basin, and state and local government and parties. In the process of dam licensing, re-licensing, and deconstruction, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has final say but under the Federal Power Act and Clean Water Act, they are required to get input from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and State environmental agencies. The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement have input from over 40 stakeholders in the region (some included on this map). To ensure that all of the provisions in these Agreements are carried out, the Klamath Basin Coordinating Council was created. Currently the deconstruction of the Klamath Hydroelectric project needs to be approved by Congress because the Secretary of the Interior believes that the Department of the Interior does not have the authority to approve deconstruction of the project.
These connections bring some questions into view. For example, focusing in on the KBRA, what research informed the final outcome of the agreement? Where did contributors get their facts and why are they considered most knowledgeable opposed to other sources? Who is responsible for the information that they produce? Are there any ethical implications in the work being done and the decisions being made? Who calls the shots? As far as concerned stakeholders, do some have more power than others? What are their motivations: economic, moral? What type of sway do federal agencies have in the decision? What role does public understanding play? Are there efforts being made to increase public understanding? What kind of information is miscommunicated or changed in the transfer of knowledge?
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