What happens if Congress says no?

Congress is currently facing a decision: whether or not to grant the Secretary of the Interior the authority to approve of the Klamath Basin Restoration Act (KBRA), the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) and the Upper Basin Water Sharing Agreement. Together referred to as the Klamath Settlement Decision (KSD), these agreements include provisions like Federal land transfers and relinquishments of tribal water rights, but that’s not why Congress is involved. Giving the Secretary the authority to make decisions is just one of the plenary powers of Congress. The Secretary of the Interior already has the ability to come to determinations about land transfer and tribal affairs, so Congress doesn’t have to play a part. The trouble only starts when money comes into play, and oh boy, the KSD is asking for a lot of it.

There have been some speculations about the future of the KSD. Some are saying that it’s dead in the water. For the KSD to be passed, the Department of the Interior, Department of Commerce, and Department of Agriculture have to approve the projects as well as the states of California and Oregon and, on top it all off, because money is involved, Congress gets to vote. If any one of these parties does not vote aye, the KSD is history. But the problems in the basin still persist, PacifiCorp will still not have licenses for the four dams that are proposed for removal but they will still be operating.  So what happens if someone says no?

Here are the posible outcomes:

The likelihood of the KSD agreement getting accepted is low. The likelihood of FERC approving PacifiCorp’s license is even lower (because it will not meet Oregon or California’s Clean Water Act requirements). That leaves PacifiCorp in an interesting position, whether or not it will choose to litigate or pay for the dam removal themselves. It would conceivably cost more for PacifiCorp to remove the dams than litigate which will just hold up the process more. The future looks bleak for those who want the dams to come out, bleak indeed.