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Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
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Archive 89 - October 2009
also  see main archive page

Around 1900, Link River, between Upper Klamath Lake and Lake Ewauna, occasionally went dry before the Klamath Project was built. There was no hydropower, no hatcheries, occasionally no fish (fish need water), no artificially-raised river flows or lake levels.  HERE for more

Latest environmental lawsuit by Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement stakeholders against Scott and Shasta agriculture October 2009. Petitioners: KLAMATH RIVERKEEPER (Craig Tucker boardmember on KBRA negotiation table with Karuks), QUARTZ VALLEY INDIAN RESERVATION, PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN’S ASSOCIATIONS (on KBRA negotiation table), ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INFORMATION CENTER, SIERRA CLUB, NORTHCOAST ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER (KBRA negotiator), and INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES. (KBC NOTE - Why do KBRA supporters claim these environmental groups will not sue them, when the enviros are already litigating against family farmers?)

Environmental Lawsuits Rake in Billions for Lawyers, Idaho Farm Bureau News, posted to KBC 10/30/09.

Klamath River Dam Removal, 10/30/09 - Column by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5.

Environmental dissent, (Oregon Wild, formerly ONRC) Group critical of water agreement, with KBC editorial, 10/30/09. "Why is it ok for Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker to help draft and support the KBRA, and with another affiliation Klamath Riverkeeper, oppose it?" Why do several supporters of the KBRA, including Tucker and Glen Spain of PCFFA, state: "Commercial agriculture within the national wildlife refuges should be phased out in an equitable manner and refuge lands should be returned to a natural habitat condition" ? Why do they tell the farmers otherwise?

Forest activists get win in court, Case deals with 2005 Biscuit fire protests in state, H&N, posted to KBC 10/30/090. (KBC NOTE: the protests were against harvesting the timber that would rot if it wasn't harvested)

Family Farm Alliance Oct 2009 "Monthly Briefing" (PDF)  

Klamath Restoration agreement - two views: Roger Nicholson and Garrett Roseberry Against the agreement: It would devastate cattle industry, followed by Becky Hyde defending the agreement and blasting elected Off-Project leaders who represent more than 95% of Off-Project, H&N, posted to KBC 10/29/09
Environmental Activists rule 1: do not deal with facts or issues. Assassinate the character of anyone who opposes your agenda. Be sure and read Hyde's response to Nicholson.

Might Change Hearts regarding Klamath Dam Removal, Shasta Indian Nation Tribal Council, Pioneer Press, posted to KBC 10/29/09

My Opinion: Coho in the Klamath River. This report has been made by history research writer and former and half-century resident of the Klamath River, Karuk tribal member James A. Waddell, in 2009

President Obama's Czars, posted to KBC 10/29/09. More on our President HERE

Klamath Water and Power Agency/KWAPA, public board of directors meeting 11/3/09

Coalition challenges state's proposal on key Klamath River streams, The Trinity Journal 10/28/09

Coho returning to Columbia in big numbers, Capital Press 10/26/09. "About 700,000 coho were projected to return to the river system this year -- at least 200,000 more than last year...They say ocean conditions are mostly responsible."
Huge coho run will help feed Oregon’s hungry, ODFG, posted to KBC 10/28/09

Fishermen contest plans for Calif. ocean reserves, Capital Press, posted to KBC 10/28/09

10/27/09, TODAY: Sign up and attend: Register Today Image2009 Watershed Council Gathering, October 27 - 30, Klamath Falls, Oregon. Wednesday hear Klamath Water Users Association director Greg Addington will speak for the Klamath Project regarding the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement/KBRA. According to Resource Conservancy representing most of Off-Project irrigation, they were not invited to participate on the panel. Becky Hyde, employee and partner of Sustainable NW, will speak for Off Project irrigators along with PacifiCorp, Klamath Tribes, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen, and American Rivers. Today's tour, 2:30pm is Link River Canyon "and future decommissioning of the dam."

 10/26/09 - An Off-Project irrigator who does not work for Sustainable NW asked us to post the following information: Sustainable NW paid NRI/National Heritage Institute $112,487 Richard Roos Collins, the legal services director for Natural Heritage Institute, which is a "non-profit law and science for global resource solutions" organization: www.n-h-i.org, is a participant in both the KBRA and Hydro meetings and is the main author of the actual KBRA. NRI represents "American Rivers and California Trout in an ongoing effort to decommission PacifiCorp’s Klamath River Project, so as to restore free passage from the Pacific Ocean more than 250 miles upstream to Upper Klamath Lake." Go HERE for NHI webpage and clients.

“Hydro” Agreement (Dam Removal) Hearings: "The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors will hold two hearings to receive public comment and ask public questions about the proposed “Hydro Agreement” to remove four dams on the Klamath River. This will be on Thursday November 12 at the Miners Inn in Yreka at 1 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. Principal signatories are PacifiCorp, the federal and state governments. Siskiyou County’s signature is not required for the agreement to go forward." sent by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 10/25/09

Water deal the topic of panel talk, H&N 10/25/09. KBC NOTE: apparently the public is not invited. Off-Project Resource Conservancy, representing 95% of off project irrigation, has not been invited to  speak either.

Fish & Wildlife Service Completes 5 Year Reviews for 50 Species in California, Nevada and Southern Oregon Recommends Uplisting Bay Checkerspot Butterfly to Endangered and Downlisting Arroyo Toad, Modoc Sucker, and Santa Cruz Cypress to Threatened, posted to KBC 10/25/09

< Sprague River Water Resources Foundation hosted a barbecue to discuss Klamath Basin water adjudication in Beatty, Ore. 10/24/09.
Oregon Senator Whitsett on Oregon Water adjudication, Part 1 of 2, YouTube Video.

Oregon Senator Whitsett on water adjudication Part 2 of 2,

 

Eight reasons Klamath dams should stay, by Dorothy Dana, Montegue, opinion for Pioneer Press 10/21/09

Financing Environmental Lawsuits, by Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett, 10/21/09 Newsletter. "...between January 2003 and July of 2007, the Judgment Fund paid nearly 42,000 claims totaling more than $4.7 billion taxpayer-dollars to reimburse prevailing radical environmental organizations for their legal costs and attorney fees...The second major source of prevailing plaintiff payments is the Equal Access to Justice Act. In this scheme, funds are taken from the losing federal agency’s budget to pay the attorney fees and costs claimed by the winning environmental organization....Between 2003 and 2005, the United States Forest Service alone paid about $1.7 million to 44 prevailing environmental organizations."

Schwarzenegger Executive Order: ALL Californians to be vaccinated for swine flu! posted to KBC 10/21/09

On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton gave a presentation in St. Paul, MN on the subject of global warming. In this 4-minute excerpt from his speech, he issues a dire warning to all Americans regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty that is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009. http://www.infowars.com/video-is-obama-poised-to-cede-us-sovereignty

Doug LaMalfa senate support continues to grow 102109 10/19/09

PLF Fights Back< PLF wins lawsuit against California water theft by federal government October 5, 2009

Technology can provide fish migration and power, by Dan Golden, H&N 10/21/09

Cost estimates of upgrading (Klamath) dams grossly inflated, That’s being done to make dam removal look more attractive than adding fish ladders, Herald and News guest opinion by Thomas Mallams, President of Klamath Off-Project Water Users 10/18/09. "A recent news article on dam removal stated PacifiCorp costs to upgrade all four dams as being a total of $279 million....the FERC report estimates, in a worst-case scenario, total dam removal costs at $4.4 billion. The CDM report puts costs, in a worst-case scenario, in excess of $1 billion..."

KWAPA/Klamath Water And Power Agency public board meeting 10/20/09

When God Opposes The Shepherds, Restore America 10/18/09

Hydro plant proposed near Henley, H&N, posted to KBC 10/18/09

No surprise: Salmon most expensive endangered species, Oregonian, posted to KBC 10/18/09. "...the total spent on the 13 salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia Basin since 1978 exceeds $12 billion."

The Invisible Government, by Nita Still, Montegue 10/18/09.

A Salmon is a salmon no matter where it's hatched, Pioneer Press letter by Nita Still, Montague 10/17/09

Photo: A new two-acre island for Caspian terns, shown before it was flooded, was built at the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Restoring refuges - Wildlife refuges benefit from stimulus funds, H&N, posted 10/16/09.
RELATED ARTICLE: Stimulus funds bring Caspian tern project to Siskiyou County, Siskyou Daily News 8/12/09. "...the Tulelake reserve rock island’s cost is approximately $1.1 million, the Orems unit rock island’s cost is approximately $650,000 and the Sheepy Lake floating island’s cost is approximately $2.3 million...an estimated colony of 10,000 nesting pairs of Caspian terns on Rice Island in the Columbia River were consuming approximately 6 million to 25 million salmonid smolts per year, according to a 1999 USACE report."

Rerun: Walking Wetland Controversy, and Bureau of Reclamation Issues by KBC.(KBC NOTE: For your information, several stakeholders who wrote and support the KBRA/Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement are in the Klamath Coalition with Oregon Wild/ONRC opposing government leaseland farming. Those groups are American Rivers, Friends of the River, Klamath Forest Alliance, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen, and Trout Unlimited. Riverkeeper publicly opposes the KBRA, however at the same time their board members Craig Tucker and Leaf Hilman with the Karuk Tribe are at the table of the KBRA. The following is a  portion of the endorsed Vision of many KBRA stakeholders who are part of the Klamath Coalition: Go HERE

Agreement guarantees refuges water, H&N 10/16/09. "(Cole) defends the Endangered Species Act and the involved National Environment Protection Act, which are often seen as obstacles....“They allow citizens the right to work for solutions, not to stop achieving solutions.”
“Throwing our hands up and saying, ‘let’s go to court,’ is not a solution. The time to solve the problem is here,” (Mauser) says. (KBC NOTE: An author and person at the table of the closed-door Klamath Settlement Craig Tucker is on the board of Riverkeeper who opposes the agreement and promises to litigate if their demands are not met.)

NW Fishletter #267, October 12, 2009
Analysis: Dam Breaching Made Simple
BiOp Plaintiffs File Same Old Complaints
Plaintiffs Want Docs From NOAA's 'Secret' Science Panel
Juvenile Steelhead Survival Soars In Hydro System
Huge Jack Count For Fall Run In The Snake
700 Sockeye Make It All The Way To Redfish Lake
New Klamath Settlement Targets BuRec As Likely Removal Entity

Settle water adjudication before Basin agreement, by James Ottoman, H&N letter posted 10/16/09

Future of irrigation: Views differ about water agreement’s impact on agriculture, H&N 10/16/09 (KBC NOTE: Scronce and Hyde's group represent less than 5% of off project and are at the negotiation table. Hyde works for Sustainable NW which works for the Klamath Tribes. Resource Conservancy represents the majority of off project and are denied a seat at the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement table. Why?)

Kulongoski wants to head off Calif. gold miners, San Jose Mercury News, posted to KBC 10/16/09. Here for MINERS PAGE.

California, Sacramento unemployment fall (to 12.2%), Sacramento Bee 10/16/09

Why tear down power dam that has a fish ladder? H&N Letter by Robert McSorley 10/16/09

Restoring (Klamath Basin) refuges - Wildlife refuges benefit from stimulus funds, H&N, posted 10/16/09

PRESS RELEASE: Hastings Opposes Democrat Leaders’ Misplaced Priorities, Calls for Relief for San Joaquin Valley Farmers and Families, posted 10/16/09

Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin, 10/16/09 including:
*
Snake River Wild Steelhead Return Breaks Record; Fall Chinook Jacks Four Times Previous Record
* Fall Fish Returns Strong, Catch Rates High; Sport Coho Catch Second Highest On Record

California water rights fact sheet, BLM, posted to KBC 10/16/09
When Equity is Unfair—Upholding Long-Standing Principles of California Water Law in City of Barstow v. Mojave Water Agency by Jason M. Miller, posted to KBC 10/16/09

Click here or to watch Oregon Congressman Greg Walden's interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, posted to KBC 10/16/09 - Health Care Bill. People want representatives to read bill before voting, and they want transparency.

Ratepayers should be considered stakeholders, H&N by George Warner, Klamath Falls, posted to KBC 10/14/09

New Klamath Settlement Targets BuRec As Likely Removal Entity, NW Fishletter, posted to KBC 10/14/09.(Clarification from KBC. 1. " 'We look forward to turning our full attention now to the KBRA and finalizing terms that combine federal power and renewable energy investment to provide affordable power for our members,' said UKWUA's Becky Hyde." KBC NOTE: Hyde represents less than 5% of off Project; the other 95%, Resource Conservancy, were not allowed at the table and oppose the agreement. 2. "Klamath Riverkeeper, which has not been involved in the talks but has pursued litigation against PacifiCorp and regulators over water quality problems in the river, acknowledged substantial improvements in the agreement." KBC NOTE: Klamath Riverkeeper, who dropped out of the negotiations of the settlement agreement promises to sue if the agreement doesn't change to meet their desires. An author and supposed supporter of the agreement, Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker, is on the board of directors of Klamath Riverkeeper along with Karuk Leaf Hillman.)

Enviros now going after groundwater, Families Protecting the Valley 10/14/09 (KBC NOTE: in the closed-door negotiated Klamath Restoration Agreement, there is a map of the groundwater areas that will be controlled, from South near Alturas (Canby) Calif, West near Doris Calif, and North through the Upper Klamath Basin. We farmers have no access to the latest drafts that detail the mandates and regulations for our land and water and our deeded rights.)

California Farm Bureau Federation Farm Team bills,  including Safe Harbor from environmental regulations.

Williamson Act: Land program earns county support for now, CFBF 10/14/09

KWAPA/Klamath Water And Power Agency public board meeting 10/20/09

NEC still at the table, Times Standard letter by Northcoast Environmental Center, posted to KBC 10/13/09
(*Two groups at the Klamath settlement table, North Coast Environmental Center and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen, support taking out the Keno Dam as well. People at the Yreka meeting presented testimony objecting to dam removal. Most of those objecting are not allowed at the table. Eureka.)

Feds shorted water districts, judge decides in Calif. case, Capital Press, posted to KBC 10/13/09

Clarification; Tom Mallams Dam removal statement, H&N 10/13/09

Klamath Lake Levels and River Flows 10/5-10/12/09

Land-use laws in the West, Capital Press, posted to KBC 10/13/09

* California Farm Bureau Federation Friday Review of bills and laws 10/13/09
* This issue of the Friday Review does not contain articles regarding water legislation.  The Governor has called an extraordinary session of the Legislature for the purposes of discussing the following:

Review of water decisions needed. Dan Keppen for the Capital Press 10/13/09

Oregon asks for guidance on water projects, Capital Press 10/13/09. "Under a law adopted earlier this year, the state may require applicants to protect "peak and ecological flows" before it provides money for water storage projects. The language changes from "may" require to "shall" require beginning in 2012."

Tulelake Irrigation District board meeting agenda for 10/12/09

Dams and cattle, Looking over the dam removal agreement, (with informational links supplied by KBC) H&N 10/9/09. "Senator Whitsett...said he believes the agreements as written will pretty much destroy the cattle industry in the Basin and that is the No. 1 commodity in the Klamath Basin...About 100,000 acres of land above and around Upper Klamath Lake have been taken out of production, much of that pasture. The agreements call for another 30,000 acre-feet of water to be diverted to the lake, which could impact between 30,000 to 50,000 acres of land, he said."

Update on Federal Land Management: Congress Acts to Prevent Wildfire Management Funds From Going to DC Parks, U.S. Calif. Congressman Wally Herger 10/9/09

Schwarzenegger pushes lawmakers for water deal, Capital Press 10/9/09

(Siskiyou) County: We have not approved dam removal, Siskiyou Daily News 10/8/09

Mixed views on dam removal, H&N, posted to KBC 10/8/09. "U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif. 'I think it’s absolute insanity,' McClintock said of the dam removal agreement."

2007 Federal and State 2007Expenditures on endangered species, including land acquisitions.  Posted to KBC 10/8/09

! Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement/KBRA Plan. KBC NOTE: National Fish and Wildlife Federation outlines plans, with Nature Conservancy, Klamath Rangeland Trust, Klamath Tribes, Sustainable NW, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Klamath Watershed Partnership, NRCS, and Ducks Unlimited, to downsize ag, increase water in Klamath Lake and Klamath River, restore lake by breaching dikes from ranches initially purchased for irrigation water storage, plant lamprey (fish parasites) and other endangered fish in the basin. The strategy includes statements that ag, timber harvest and grazing cause "chronic excessive nutrient loading."  and we must manage water by "lake level management." Although the chairman of the National Research Council said that these waters are naturally laden with phosphorus and no amount of downsizing agriculture will fix it's naturally poor water quality, these groups, condoned by our farm leaders in the KBRA with no public support, will be controlling the land and water in the Klamath Basin if the $1 billion KBRA is adopted. Posted to KBC 10/8/09

Something is not right on the rivers by Glen Owen Briggs, Siskiyou Daily News 10/5/09. Briggs is a retired civil engineer, Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation

The cost of losing dams, Albany Democrat Herald, posted to KBC 10/7/09

Court orders government to pay for water losses; decision could open door for more districts to seek payment for water shifted to fish, Contra Costa Times, posted to KBC 10/7/09

Tulelake Irrigation District well water levels 10/7/09

(Trinity) County protests water rights request, Trinity Journal 10/7/09

Farmers express mixed reactions on dam removal, 10/7/09 by Christine Souza, California Farm Bureau Ag Alert

We have the power to stop dam removal, by Tony Intiso, Siskiyou Daily News letter 10/7/09

People need to know about San Joaquin Valley, H&N letter 10/7/09.

Hope for Modoc identity, some seek to separate from Klamath Tribe H&N 10/7/09

Klamath water report 9/28-10/5/09

Seeking input - Stakeholders plan public meetings; No dates yet for public meetings on dam removal, 10/6/09 H&N

What will dam removal mean in the future? H&N letters 10/6/09. Senator Doug Whitsett: "The Basin will see less farming and an increased federal presence in the region in the coming years with the dam removal agreement, purchasing more land and creating more wildlife refuges, he said...I believe that the agreements as written will pretty much destroy the cattle industry in the Basin and that is the No. 1 commodity in the Klamath Basin.”

Groups against Klamath Hydro Agreement speak out, KDRV, posted to KBC 10/6/09

Going Backwards--Dam Removal in Northern California, by Doug LaMalfa, former Calif Assemblyman, posted to KBC 10/4/09. Sacramento Bee opinion and Flash Report

Water Users group at first opposed bill, by Carole Canavari, H&N 10/3/09

What you need to know about the KBRA, H&N 10/4/09. "...the public also will have the ability to comment on it, before it is signed..."

Draft Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, by Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett, 10/2/09

Parties Release Draft Agreement Setting Process To Remove Klamath Dams In 2020, CBB 10/2/09

The Return of the Klamath River Myth Makers, Dan Keppen, Family Farm Alliance, Siskiyou Daily News guest column, posted to KBC 10/2/09.

Siskiyou officials dubious about hydro plans  Herald and News 10/3/09

! Klamath Riverkeeper's Press Release (threat of lawsuits), and KBC response. Some Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement negotiators are also Klamath Riverkeeper.

KWUA newsletter 10/2/09

Sheepdogs have their day, 2009 National Finals in Klamath Basin, Capital Press 10/2/09.

Weigh dam removal against its huge impact, Donna Harlan letter to editor H&N 10/02/09

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