Coalition members Idaho Rivers United and American Whitewater helped make a settlement promise become a reality: dam removal on the overregulated Bear River in Idaho.

Coalition chair American Rivers today celebrated the return of natural flows to Fossil Creek, a stream in central Arizona. Through relicensing, Arizona Public Service chose to decommission its Childs and Irving hydroelectric plants in favor of restoring the desert river to its natural flow and rhythms.

Welcome back, Fossil Creek.

Wednesday, March 23 2:00 pm ET

Utility Supports Decommissioning of Hydroelectric Project in Shasta County

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 23 /PRNewswire/-- Pacific Gas and Electric Company, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game, National Park Service, California State Water Resources Control Board, NOAA Fisheries, Trout Unlimited and Friends of the River today announced a historic agreement which could lead to the decommissioning of PG& E's Kilarc-Cow Creek hydroelectric project.

The Bear River project, a series of four dams, was consolidated under a single license in 2003 after a comprehensive settlement involving a broad group of stakeholders, including members American Whitewater, Trout Unlimited, and Idaho Rivers United. Now in license and settlement implementation, a stakeholder consensus was reached to remove one of the older developments, Cove Dam.

Following a plan designed by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today issued an order relinquishing its control over Milltown Dam, P-2543.

The order dismisses the pending license application and gives notice that FERC intends to accept project surrender. FERC also ordered actions in accordance with EPA's plan to remove Milltown Dam, such as permanent reservoir drawdown, and clarified that EPA is now in charge of regulating and ultimately removing the dam.

On December 20, 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final plan to remove Milltown Dam, a FERC project and also a Superfund site.

The details of the plan and a site map are available on EPA's Milltown Superfund website. Coalition member Clark Fork Coalition was instrumental in building enormous public support for dam removal, visible on bumpers across Montana.

The 1.5-megawatt Fort Halifax Project on the Sebasticook River in Maine remains to be partially removed despite an effort by local interest groups to appeal the decision.

FERC's recent issuance of an order regarding the Ft. Halifax dam signaled at least a temporary end to a standing controversy over the Commission's responsibilities and obligations with respect to settlement agreements. On January 22, 2004, FERC issued its final order for the Ft. Halifax Project on the Sebasticook River upholding its original 1998 settlement that required dam removal in the absence of construction of a fish lift.

On October 6, 2003, PPL Corporation, conservation groups, the Penobscot Indian Nation, the State of Maine, and the U.S. Department of Interior announced an agreement aimed at restoring sea-run fish to the Penobscot River, while giving PPL Corporation the opportunity to maintain more than 90% of its current hydropower generation.

Dubbed the Penobscot River Restoration Project, the deal will significantly improve access to over 500 miles of river habitat, allowing for the recovery of native species of sea-run fish. The Penobscot is Maine's largest river, draining 8,570 square miles, about one-third of the state.

Salem, Ore. -- Today, Governor Theodore R. Kulongoski cheered a cooperative agreement among state and federal resource agencies, PacifiCorp, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, American Rivers and the Hood River Watershed Group, whereby the Powerdale Hydroelectric Project on Oregon's Hood River will be decommissioned and portions of it removed beginning in 2010.