Save HabitatLIh, AS AGREEs To The Transfer Of Four Dams At The California-Oregon Border

River Klamath. (Wikimedia Commons/Pacific Southwest Region/USFWS)

JAKARTA - The United States Authority, which seeks to restore its endangered fish habitat, gave final approval on Thursday to disable four dams crossing the California-Oregon border, the country's biggest dam transfer attempt in the country's history.

The removal of the dam is expected to improve the health of the Klamath River, a route that is taken by the poverty-threshold salmon and salmon coho from the Pacific Ocean to a colony upstream, and from which young fish return to the sea.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order to hand over the dam license and approve the transfer of the dam.

The project has long been the goal of some native tribes whose ancestors have lived from salmon for centuries, but their way of life has been disrupted by European settlements and rural electricity demand in the 20th century.

"Salmon Klamath is coming home," Joseph James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said in a statement. "People have won this victory and with that, we carry out our sacred duty to the fish that has supported our people since the beginning of time," he continued.

Climate change and drought also suppresses salmon habitat, rivers become too warm and too full of parasites for many fish to survive.

The dam on federal ground, which at full capacity provides enough electricity for 70,000 homes, will be handed over by the electric utility of PacifiCorp, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway unit.

Faced with new, expensive regulations including building screens and fishing ladders, the company instead struck an agreement with the tribes and the US government to disable the dam.

PacifiCorp accounts for $200 million for the removal of the dam, which costs additionally to its customers in Oregon and California, said Bob Gravely, the company's spokesman.