Environmental group pulls out of Klamath talks

A prominent environmental group has backed out of negotiations over a deal meant to help fish, farmers, tribes and others in the Klamath Basin. The California-based Northcoast Environmental Center said the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement would threaten salmon and other fish and the basin and won't speed the removal of four dams on the Klamath River, which the center supports. The agreement, they said, doesn't do enough to ensure flows for fish runs while guaranteeing water deliveries to farms that rely on irrigation water diverted from the river. "We understand and sympathize with the plight of upriver farmers, who need water for their crops," said Greg King, the NEC's Klamath campaign coordinator. "The farmers require water to avoid dry fields. But the salmon need that same water to avoid extinction."...Oregonian