Restoration of the Klamath River and its dwindling salmon runs took another step closer to reality as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a draft environmental impact statement on Friday that found significant benefits to removing four dams on the lower Klamath. Public comments will now be allowed before finalizing the impact statement. If the plan goes forward, it will be the largest dam removal project in the nation's history, costing nearly $500 million. The dams are not used for irrigation or flood control and are increasingly uneconomic to operate. Owner PacificCorp has provided funds for the project. PacificCorp is owned by Bershire-Hathaway, billionaire investor Warren Buffet't holding company.The dams cut the 253 mile long Klamath River in half, denying salmon access to their historic spawning grounds. Consequently both coho and chinook have suffered disastrous declines in the populations. Coho from the river are listed as endangered by both California and the federal government. Spring chinook have declined by 98% forcing the Yurok tribe that depend on the runs for food to cancel its fishing season for the first time in history. As many as 90% of juvenile salmon have tested positive for disease caused by low water flows. Residents living around a reservoir created by one of the dams have sued to prevent the removal project from taking place. So far proponents have overcome the project's critics. A historic deal reached in 2020 made Oregon and California equal partners in the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, which will oversee the project. Conservationists and commercial fishers have worked for decades to bring down the dams in a region suffering from drought and shrinking water supplies.