Water Management

Upper Basin water shutoffs likely, Low water flows a troubling sign as state directors visit Klamath, H&N 5/7/13. "Upper Basin contestants have filed stays against various instream claims, Upper Klamath Lake levels, and the Klamath Project’s consolidated claim"

Mandatory Ranch Management Plan illegal and unconstitutional, letter from Mark Baird, Scott Valley rancher and commercial pilot, 10/22/12

Agricultural contributions and water reallocation, Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett, Klamath Falls Dist 28, posted to KBC 10/11/12

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) – Part 1, Column by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 9/18/12. "IWRM was born out of The Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development created at the International Conference on Water and the Environment held in Ireland in 1992. ..“Integrated Water Resources Management” was featured in Chapter 18 of Agenda 21.."
General information on IWRM - The Global Agenda - IWRM - a Blueprint for Control, by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 

Oregon needs action on water, Capital Press, posted to KBC 8/24/12.

Langell Valley faces limited water supplies, H&N, posted to KBC 8/22/12.

Farmers, ranchers in the Langell Valley familiar with water crises, H&N, posted to KBC 8/16/12. "Under federally-mandated U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinions, a minimum lake level is required to support the short-nose sucker, an endangered fish." (KBC NOTE: There is a mandatory lake level in Clear Lake for "endangered" suckers. Before the Klamath Project was built, Clear Lake was a meadow. The reservoir was built to evaporate water so farmers could farm. The Project also pumped water out of this closed basin into Klamath River, water which historically did not reach the river. The federal government now demands a higher-than-historical lake level for salmon because of the ESA / Endangered Species Act. )

Panel adopts comprehensive Oregon water strategy, Capital Press, posted to KBC 8/5/12

Draft of (Oregon) state water plan posted, Capital Press 6/26/12

Draft IWRS / Integrated Water Resource Strategy 6/22/12
IWRS Executive Summary 6/22/12
     "The Oregon Water Resources Commission is scheduled to adopted the Integrated Water Resources Strategy at their August 2 meeting. The meeting is being held at the Water Resources Dept Conference Room 124 725 Summer St NE in Salem. The discussion is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.
     Water for Life does not support adoption of the Strategy. It is our position that it is not a strategy but an opinion piece and policy statement. The link to the complete document is below. You are encouraged to attend the meeting and let the Commission know your thoughts on the document."
     Helen Moore, Executive Director (503) 375-6003

Well, it looks like the Karuk Tribe and Klamath River Keepers are at it again, PieNPolitics 6/5/12. "Late last week while the areas food producers were preparing for the 2012-farming season, the Karuk Tribe, in coordination with the Klamath River Keepers, went public with an extremely biased and highly controversial groundwater model of the Scott River aquifer."

Plan in place to ease moderate drought, basin irrigation officials say idling will save 10,000 acre-feet of water this summer, H&N 5/31/12. "The first land idling period begins June 15 and the deadline to apply is Tuesday, June 5."

Oregon Integrated Water Resources Strategy, by Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett 5/31/12. "...IWRS advisory committee... appear to have placed little emphasis on the development of additional storage for current and expanded agricultural use. Implementation of those public policies can only serve to diminish the supply of water available for irrigation."

Latest water level drop at Copco, by Robert Davis, 5/14/12. "NMFS requested a higher than normal water flow out of Irongate, above 3000 cfs. Flows provided from Klamath Lake were about 2750 cfs. ...The shortage was made up from Copco Lake resulting in a drop in lake level of about 7 feet...It is evident there was no monitoring of the process to assure any request for change would not cause damage or hardship for the other sections of the project."

The Big Picture part 2, by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong, posted to KBC 5/14/11. Armstrong documents how the UN and ICNU, with designated roadless areas and wilderness areas, were formed to shut down human use of land and resources in the Klamath River Basin.
HERE for the Big Picture part 1.
Here is the link for Armstrong's research on Agenda 21 Rewilding or HERE

The Big Picture Part I, by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor, posted to KBC 5/11/11. "I was struck by a sentence in the recent “chinook expert panel” report commissioned for the dam removal studies. It said: “Furthermore, the refuges should be managed for fish and wildlife versus agriculture if the basin management objective is rehabilitation of fish species.” Just when did the citizens of Siskiyou County agree to an over-riding regional “management objective”of fish rehabilitation? Just who signed the orders relegating us to serfdom, putting our private property and livelihoods in the service of fish production and those who harvest fish? What happened to our own economic priorities – to the development of our local natural resources to create food, fiber and mineral products for the benefit of our families, communities and nation."

OIWRS / Oregon Integrated Water Resource Strategy Issue papers comment by 3/1/11

Managing Klamath River complicated; recent flow change offers an example, H&N editorial, posted to KBC  2/15/11. (KBC NOTE: last year more than 1/2 Klamath irrigators received no irrigation water. This year the federal agencies sent approximately 20,000 acre feet of water into the ocean.) "Greg Addington, executive director for the Klamath Basin Water Users Association, which represents water users on the five irrigation districts on the 240,000-acre federal project, said the lake’s 'in good shape now. That’s a lot of water (going downriver), but I don’t feel like the lake is in jeopardy of not filling because of it.' ”

River flows to increase for fish, H&N, posted to KBC 2/10/11. "Flows will be three times their current cubic feet per second rate, going from 1,600 cfs to 5,000 cfs for six hours, and then decreasing to 1,300 cfs."

Reclamation Announces Flows from Iron Gate Dam to Increase on Wednesday, February 9, BOR 2/7/11. " 'I am confident that we will have the lake as full as possible for this time of the year, and we are on track to fill the lake on or before April 1, 2011,' stated Phillips."

Integrated Water Resources Strategy; Oregon Water Resources Department
Medford Flyer (Tuesday, May 11)
Klamath Falls Flyer (Wednesday, May 12)
Redmond Flyer (Thursday, May 13)

PRESS RELEASE: Reclamation Announces Start Date for Klamath Project Water Deliveries, Bureau of Reclamation, posted to KBC 4/5/09

Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong compares California water plan with Klamath dam-removal Agreement, Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, 7/24/08

CA New Water Governance Paradigm; information, sent by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 7/21/08
Comments on Statewide Watershed Program, by Marcia H. Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5, posted to KBC 7/21/08

Rationing signals grim times for water out West, by Dan Keppen, Executive Director of Family Farm Alliance, 2/29/08, H&N. "...government regulations and court-ordered directives favoring fish over farmers will put the screws to San Joaquin communities this summer.  Because farmland within Westlands Water District — ground zero in the current crisis — accounts for 20 percent of the $5 billion agricultural production of Fresno County (the nation’s No. 1 farm county), the potential economic impacts will dwarf the 2001 Klamath crisis."

Central Valley farmers adjusting to drought, CVBT 6/24/08

Columbia River: Salmon win in this dam legal battle, Capital Press editorial 4/25/08. "It's a fact that some environmental groups won't be happy until every dam is removed from every salmon stream and river in the West. Whether that's practical is, for them, not a concern. They simply don't seem to be willing to accept any alternatives. For them, it's an all-or-nothing proposition."

Water obligations will be met, Reclamation expects to make full deliveries to irrigators, H&N posted to KBC 4/14/07

PRESS RELEASE Reclamation : Klamath Project 2007 Operations Plan Released; Supplies Expected to Meet all Responsibilities, 4/9/07. "Reclamation has developed access to supplemental water of up to 100,000 acre-feet, if it is required, to meet Project needs...the WSES water comprises off-stream storage, land idling, and ground-water pumping."

Growth threatens water, H&N 3/1/07. "Addington said irrigators are frustrated that the matrix gives them less water in average-water years than in low-water years."

Recommendation for Big Look Task Force; Water, Paper or Planning? by Tamra Mabbott, Umatilla County Planning Director,October, 2006
Oregon's water management plan, Oregon State Senator Doug Whitsett responds to above recommendation, 11/28/06 "Her (Mabbott's) proposals, taken as a whole, represent the largest expansion of Oregon’s police powers since the 1973 passage of Senate Bill 100, the land use planning statute. Six of her specific policy proposals appear to oppose the interests of agriculture and the interests of many municipalities."

Project aims to mend lake shore, H&N, posted to KBC 7/3/06 "Mark Buettner, a fisheries biologist for FWS, acknowledged the lake level does not currently meet the biological opinion's requirement. But he said the agency has OK'd the temporary discrepancy, which was due to circumstances beyond Reclamation's control. Analyses by Reclamation and FWS conclude the current level will provide adequate sucker habitat this year."

Interior and Yurok Tribe announce agreement to improve management of Klamath River Basin, posted to KBC 6/29/06.

Common sense left out of Klamath water plans, Capital Press Steve Cheyne posted to KBC 12/25/05

Bureau Commissioner John Keyes 'On Point', July 19, 2005, transcript.

Reclamation Managing Water in the West articles for 6/24/05

Wrangling Water, International water experts and officials gather in Boise to discuss rising demands and decreasing supplies, Headwaters News 6/22/05 (Family Farm Alliance Dan Keppen and BOR Commissioner John Keyes were amongst the panelists.)

Water-use measurement bill clears Senate, Capital Press 6/13/05.(In California in certain regions, this type bill led to landowners being charged over $100/acre foot for their own groundwater. KBC)

Whitsett has good reason to be wary, Herald and News editorial 6/8/05. "Rural Oregon should be afraid of such things because they put weapons in the hands of urban residents who have little knowledge about such things as agriculture and responsible use of resources."

Rural Oregonians fear bill SB731 is threat to their water rights, Seattle Times 5/30/05. (BEWARE: there are places in California that private property owners must pay over $100 per acre foot for their own water. This will erode your property right to your water. KBC)

Alliance: ‘Mining’ ag water becoming default water policy for urban growth, Wyoming Livestock Roundup 5/7/05 "Quotes from Family Farm Alliance president Pat O’Toole and Chairman of the Board, Bill Kennedy on the importance of enhancing Western water supplies."

Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA unveils water action plan for California, "No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water" pdf file. HERE for summary.

2 H&N articles on the Klamath Conservation Implementation Plan, 10/25/04, 'Focus sought for water program', and 'Bureau takes new program for test drive.'

Klamath Water Users Association weekly update October 14, 2004. Go to Klamath Water Users Association update 101404 for update:
* Klamath Water Users Applaud Signing of Landmark Watershed Agreement
* Interior Secretary Announces Klamath Watershed Coordination Agreement
* Complete Text of the Klamath River Watershed Coordination Agreement
* Klamath County Commissioner Clarifies the Record for ONRC

10/14/04: Attached are local, regional and national news articles regarding yesterday's announcement of the historic Klamath River Watershed Coordination Agreement:
1. Associated Press
2. Los Angeles Times
3. The Oregonian (Portland)
4. Eureka Times-Standard
5. Redding Record Searchlight

Hands across the Basin, H&N 10/14/04

PRESS RELEASE: Interior Secretary Gale Norton Announces Klamath Watershed Coordination Agreement, Office of the Secretary 10/13/04.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Klamath Water Users Applaud Signing of Landmark Watershed Agreement 10/13/04

Cal-Fed Authorization, NCWA-Northern California Water Association pdf., October 8, 2004.

Klamath Basin  Water Management, by Dr Doug Whitsett, AgLifeNW Magazine 7/19/04.