Pacific Power & Light Company, Department of Fish and Game of the State of California v. Federal Power Commission

These are petitions, consolidated for hearing and determination, to review a decision of the Federal Power Commission. The order in question relates to the Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River in Northern California, a facility constructed by petitioner, Pacific Power & Light Company (Pacific) under a Commission license. Pacific attacks the portion of the order that requires it to construct, at its expense, a fish hatchery, and to reimburse the Department of Fish and Game of the State of California (Department) for 80 percent of the cost of operating the hatchery and of operating fish egg-taking facilities already constructed. The Department also attacks the order, urging that Pacific should be required to pay 100 percent of the cost of the operation of these facilities, with one exception.

The Klamath River, which rises in Southern Oregon and flows into and across California to the Pacific Ocean, has long been a famous fishing stream, supporting large numbers of anadromous fish: king salmon, silver salmon and steelhead trout. Pacific’s predecessor, the California Oregon Power Company (Copco), constructed five hydroelectric plants on the river and its tributaries, between 1908 and…