WHEN precious Klamath River water was steered to farmers in 2002, it was a convincing display of White House political muscle. Farmers in southern Oregon vote, and salmon, who died by the thousands, don't.

What's new in this tale of water manipulation is that Vice President Dick Cheney may have pulled the levers, according to a Washington Post profile of his anti-environmental record. The report has led 36 Democratic House members in Oregon and California to call for a hearing.

But demonizing Cheney for what ails the Klamath isn't enough. It's time that this powerful posse of elected leaders, whose party rules Congress, do more. The delegation should get together behind a plan that will assure steady water flows needed by salmon to survive.

One option is removing the four dams near the Oregon border. These dams produce little electricity or downstream flood protection. Their chief accomplishment is to barricade salmon from spawning beds, which now lie under tons of silt. Taking out the dams and restoring the river would be a huge task, but one answer to restoring salmon runs.

The hearing could underline this directive because the federal licensing of the four dams is up for renewal. One federal agency has mandated that costly new fish ladders be built, a condition that could doom the structures.

Congress could work on the other essentials needed to revive the Klamath: timber-cut policies, development and water diversions needed by Oregon farmers.

The White House has done its part to wreck the Klamath. Now it's up to Congress to move beyond this sad fact and begin the hard job of reviving a seriously stressed river.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/11/EDGNNQ4VKP1.DTL

This article appeared on page B - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle