Water Management
and Allocation

Managing Water,  Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton visits Klamath Basin, Capital Press 7/5/22. "...Asked whether she sees the Klamath Project as sustainable with its current model and scale, Touton said, “I don’t want to speculate on that...”

State of emergency: More than 100 wells now dry in Klamath County, H&N 11/8/22. KBC NOTE: Wells have gone dry in the Modoc and Siskiyou Counties in the Klamath Project too. The Bureau of Reclamation withheld from farms our stored irrigation water in Klamath Lake far above the Endangered Species Act mandates for 2 species of suckers. That water supplies irrigation water to thousands of acres of Klamath Project farms, that then goes to our National Wildlife Refuges which the Bureau also dewatered, decimating habitat for 433 species of wildlife. More than 1000 miles of drain ditches and canals exist in the Klamath Reclamation Project supplying habitat and water for the most important stop on the Pacific Flyway for migrating birds. Dewatered. When our surface water is diverted to the ocean, our wells go dry, and farmers are penalized for depleting the aquifer. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, our refuges provided habitat for more than 10,000 years. Until now.

Reclamation extends interim operations plan for Klamath Project, Capital Press 10/21/22. "Both the Klamath Water Users Association and Klamath Tribes urged Reclamation to discard the plan after it was set to expire Sept. 30...Simmons, with the KWUA, previously said the changes authorized under the interim operations plan were “far above any level ever claimed to be necessary” for suckers, while cutting off access to another 45,000 acre-feet of water for irrigation."

Losing a huge opportunity for the Klamath Watershed by Siskiyou, Klamath and Modoc County Commissioners, Capital Press 9/29/22. "...We have seen decades of random acts of restoration in our watershed already. Tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land have been taken out of production. Projects have been built and then abandoned. Dikes that once protected productive farmland have been blown up to flood that farmland and create habitat for endangered species. That project — like others that have been tried over the past 20 years — has, by all accounts, failed miserably..."

Water shutoff leaves Klamath farmers scrambling to save crops, Capital Press 9/16/22. "...farmers say Reclamation kept changing the end-of-season water elevation needed for suckers in Upper Klamath Lake....Normally, the “absolute minimum” elevation is set at 4,138 feet above sea level. Reclamation added a buffer of 4,138.15 feet above sea level, which it later increased to 4,138.62 feet...Paul Simmons, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, said the changes were “far above any level ever claimed to be necessary for endangered sucker species,” while cutting off access to another 45,000 acre-feet of water for irrigation..."

Ruling invalidates Klamath irrigators' injunction, H&N 9/9/22. “Any number of tribal and non-tribal parties can sue the government to take water away from irrigators, but irrigators can’t sue to protect their own interests in water.”

Water dispute should be decided in court
"As with all government activities, the Klamath Project should be operated in accordance with law, not illegal shut-off orders, illegal water diversions, nor thuggish federal extortion tactics."
< by Klamath Irrigation District Executive Director Gene Souza, Herald and News 8/27/22
KBC Explanation: Bureau of Reclamation encouraged farmers to fallow their land this season because there would not be enough of our stored water for crops. Thousands of acres were fallowed. There is abundant water. On August 19: The Blackmail: the Bureau illegally told our water districts that if they did not shut off water to their customers, they would not allow any irrigator to be paid for fallowing their land.

Outflows to Upper Klamath Lake over 100 percent of average --- Inflows around 25percent of average, KID Update 7/22/22. "...a great deal of water is being unnecessarily and unnaturally evacuated from the Klamath Basin into the Klamath River canyon below Keno..."

Klamath Drainage District Press Release: Reclamation files surprise complaint against KDD, District disappointed in government's conduct July 11. 2022. "Scott White, General Manager for the district notes that this is not a contract issue at all and points to the district’s existing water rights of record. 'The Bureau has literally acknowledged and affirmed KDD’s water rights in the past and encouraged us to exercise them when there is no Project Supply available,'said White. 'It’s incredible that they claim we are in breach of contract for doing the very thing they asked of us for years.' '...The district is also bound by contract to deliver water to water users outside of the district, but the complaint makes no mention of the district currently facilitating the conveyance of water to the refuge under state law. 'The Bureau is out of its lane in picking and choosing which law to recognize,' states Bill Walker, President of the district. 'The Bureau supports state law when it means getting water to their land but does not when it means getting water to family farmers and ranchers...'"
UNITED STATES of America VS Klamath Drainage District, COMPLAINT with Department of Justice attorneys against the small Klamath Drainage District 7/5/22.

< Headgates of A Canal at Klamath Irrigation District
Irrigators, tribes object to extending Klamath Project interim operations plan, Capital Press 6/30/22.FOLLOWED BY full letter from Klamath Water Users Association to BOR "In a letter sent June 17 to Ernest Conant, Reclamation’s regional director, the Klamath Water Users Association outlined deficiencies in the interim operations plan, claiming “it is based on erroneous data, flawed hydrologic assumptions and a proposed action that does not comport with current operations...The three years of attempted operation under the (plan) has been a period of chaotic, ad hoc decision-making,” the letter states. “KWUA has, for well over a year, emphasized the lack of any coherent regulatory construct for the IOP. That point is further underscored by the fact that the IOP has required Reclamation to do things that literally are impossible.”

< Lucky Ackley. Costs spike, fields go fallow in Klamath, CFBF AgAlert, 6/22/22. " 'That (Upper Klamath) Lake did not exist other than wet years before they built the Link River Dam," he said. "It was built to store water for dry years to irrigate and farm with, and now it's totally being misused, mismanaged, and all the water is getting flushed down the river for salmon or being held in the lake at unhistoric levels for suckerfish.' He said many beef producers have had to sell their cattle at a loss because they can't feed them. If Ackley were eventually forced to sell off his herd, he said, he would lose about 80 years of genetic selection for the best cattle for this rangeland. 'You can't just go buy that back,' he said."

Klamath Irrigation District's Final Water Management and Conservation Plan, posted to KBC 5/7/22. "(The KID WM and CP) captures a brief summary of our history and discusses what we know about the present. Recent conversations have indicated many are not aware of Klamath Irrigation District's efforts to move towards a more modern and efficient irrigation system. The first step to the future is understanding our past and our infrastructure design, then understanding our present conditions....from there we can create a vision for the future."
"Proposed date of submittal of an updated Water Management Conservation plan to OWRD required in OAR 690-086-0225.6: The submittal of an updated plan in the foreseeable future is unnecessary and should not be required before 1 January 2035 or upon a Reclamation directive consistent with our contract."

Klamath Tribe suing Biden administration over Oregon water to farmers, H&N 4/15/22. “We implore you to rescind the 2022 plan and operate the project this year consistent with the law, which requires the prioritization of the needs of the C’Waam and Koptu,” (Klamath Tribe Chairman Don) Gentry said using native language terms to describe the suckerfish. The fish also have spiritual, cultural and historical significance to the tribes." Yurok Vice-Chairman Frankie Meyers said, “The Upper and Lower Klamath Basin once functioned as an integrated system that provided abundant salmon, suckers and waterfowl with minimal intervention. It is our duty to bring this system back into balance and we will never stop working toward that goal..."
KBC NOTE: Not mentioned in the H&N article, last summer farmers got zero allocation while the Bureau of Rec. withheld 40,000 acre feet of our stored water above what the ESA required, and refused to pay it back to the farmers. In 2021 the agencies and tribes dewatered our refuges for the first time in more than 10,000 years according to Fish and Wildlife Service.
< Photo from High Country News of Frankie Meyers. Not mentioned by Meyers is, our Klamath Basin DID function as an integrated system with abundant salmon, suckers and waterfowl until, against the direction of the "best available science," the National Research Council, the government agencies mandated higher lake levels and river flows than historically possible before the Klamath irrigation project was built. Lake level and river flow management will not increase sucker propagation according to the NRC. Suckers thrived in years of low water levels.
Watch Meyer's video: https://www.facebook.com/frankie.../videos/4455720501123904 "...You are always in the right if you're telling your government officials to give land back to indigenous communities..." A ten minute video well worth your time.  Keep in mind, every Klamath tribal member was given a ballot to vote on whether to terminate their tribe and receive money...they overwhelmingly voted to terminate and were paid for their land. They later were given allotments and most of them sold their allotments.
   Also, Mayers claimed that only white veterans were chosen to win a Tulelake homestead. FACT: WWI and WWII veterans with farm experience were entered into a contest, and winners were drawn from a pickle jar. Skin color was not a prerequisite.

< Photo from Herald and News. Don Gentry, current Klamath Tribal Chairman discusses termination and allotments in October 7, 2003 on Tribal Tour of the forests they hoped to be given: #9 In the van, Tribal Resource Specialist Don Gentry in discussion about Termination

APRIL 14 and 15, 2022. We store our irrigation water for the Klamath Project in Klamath Lake. Bureau of Reclamation denied us 100% of our stored water in 2021, and in 2022 we are allowed only enough to get our ditches wet. They dewatered our refuges that, according to USFWS, have supported 433 species of wildlife for 10,000 years, until last year. Klamath Tribe is suing to deny us 100% of our legally stored water, to raise Klamath Lake to higher than historic levels that were not possible before the Klamath Project was built, for suckers. Much of our stored irrigation water is being sent down the Klamath River to the ocean for salmon.
4/14/22 Klamath Lake	4/14/22 Klamath Lake	4/14/22 Klamath Lake	4/15/22 Klamath River

BOR News Release - Reclamation initiating Klamath River flushing flow to promote salmon health, 4/14/22. "Beginning April 15, flows below Iron Gate Dam will increase from approximately 1,325 cubic feet per second up to 4,500 cfs. Increased releases out of Upper Klamath Lake through the Link River Dam will occur simultaneously. The highest releases, of up to approximately 4,500 cfs, will be reduced to about 3,200 cfs on Saturday, April 16. A high peak of 4,200 cfs will occur on Sunday April 17. Flows will start ramping down the morning of Monday, April 18..."

Reclamation to release 50,000 acre-feet of water to Klamath Project; provide $20M in drought response, H&N 4/12/22. “We have 170,000 acres that could be irrigated this year and we’re ready to get to work,” KWUA President Ben DuVal...On a single acre, we can produce over 50,000 pounds of potatoes, or 6,000 pounds of wheat. This year, most of that land will not produce any food because the government is denying water for irrigation. We’ll just be trying to keep the weeds and dust under control.” "
“While reclamation has provided us some opportunities to work with them, the farmers and ranchers of this basin and our community all depend on agriculture. About one in three jobs in the basin can be tied to agriculture,” (Klamath Irrigation District Manager) Gene Souza said. “The loss is going to be felt in restaurants and grocery stores and potentially in food market across the nation.  It’s just a shame we’ve got 350,000 acre-feet of (our stored) water in Upper Klamath and we’re only (getting) a small piece.”

Bureau of Reclamation Annual Operations Plan 2022 for the Klamath Reclamation Project, April 2022.

BOR PRESS RELEASE: Reclamation opens Klamath Project irrigation season with limited water supply allocation amid extreme drought, 4/11/22

OWRD/Oregon Water Resources Department counter claim against U.S. Regarding Bureau of Reclamation releasing legally-stored stored Klamath Project irrigation water into ocean 4/7/22. "...Section 8 of the Reclamation Act of 1902, which authorizes Reclamation to operate the Klamath Project in Southern Oregon and Northern California, expressly requires Reclamation to comply with state water law in those operations..." KBC NOTE: FYI, 2 of the Plaintiffs are PCFFA / Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen and IFFR / Institute for Fisheries Resources. According to PCFFA, "Rather than seek out yet another unrelated non-profit to funnel the money through, PCFFA created a new organization (IFFR)..."  

A wake-up call to our national leaders from a Western rancher, Family Farm Alliance President Patrick O'Toole, 3/17/22. "...At a time when the future of Ukraine’s ability to help feed the outside world is at risk, the world’s best producers — Western irrigators — are watching their water flushed to the sea to purportedly help fish populations. Decades of empirical evidence has failed so far to show a positive response from those targeted fish to such water shifting schemes. Meanwhile, our ability to increase food productivity is further diminished..."

A dry January foreshadows another tough year for the Klamath Basin, News10 1/24/22. "Gene Souza, Klamath Irrigation District Manager, says they’re anticipating an April water delivery to its users at the latest. He says with how low the reservoirs are right now, he’d need to pull water from the lake starting in February and that request has already been denied by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)...“The water that we take out to grow crops to sustain our families and communities, that water comes down here [Tule Lake] and benefits birds, fish, and other wildlife, bald eagle, wolves, coyotes..." Souza’s biggest frustration is that the water they use for their irrigation district all ends up back in the Klamath River anyways. He says whatever water runs off of farms and ranches and through the county all runs into the wildlife refuges, at which point excess water is pumped out to the river..."

Massive but controversial restoration project in the works for Upper Klamath Lake (Barnes and Agency Ranches/Gov't acquisitions), H&N 12/18/22.

Upper Klamath wetland restoration stirs concern among irrigators - (Barnes and Agency Ranches Government Acquisitions), Capital Press 12/6/21. "According to the preliminary data, the project would reduce average water deliveries from Upper Klamath Lake for agriculture by 3,000 acre-feet per year. Deliveries for the other Klamath Basin wildlife refuges would drop by 1,000 acre-feet annually, and in-stream flows for the Klamath River would drop by an average of 34,000 acre-feet. “To the extent that there is less water available for the river ... we would be concerned the Project would end up sucking up the whole burden,” Simmons said..."

Klamath Water Users Association's concerns with Barnes Agency Project 11/12/21. "...there would be reductions in water availability for irrigation (and by extension NWRs) and Klamath River flows as a result of the proposed project.
Klamath Irrigation District opposition to Barnes Agency Project 11/11/21. "...the analysis indicates the Klamath River below Keno will loose on average 37,000 acre-feet of water per year (with a range of loss between 4,000 and 75,000 acre feet....  more than 50% of the increased storage created by this project will be lost to ET, with 27,000 to 46,000 acre-feet of water loss. This amount of loss is more than the water-right holders within the Klamath Project received in 2021; this amount is more than the full-water right and combined need of Shasta View Irrigation District, Malin Irrigation District, Enterprise Irrigation District, Sunnyside Irrigation District, Poe Valley Improvement District, and Pine Grove Irrigation District to which we are contractually obligated to deliver irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake..."

11/15/21 - Order No. 3403 Subject: Joint Secretarial Order on Fulfilling the Trust Responsibility to Indian Tribes in the Stewardship of Federal Lands and Waters. Today, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture issued a joint secretarial order directed toward strengthen the role of tribes in management of land and water.  It also commits to support of return of tribal lands and taking federal land into trust. 

Flood Irrigation Forever: Farmers provide crucial habitat for migratory waterfowl, recharge aquifer, Capital Press 10/22/21. "It takes a lot of water, but it also puts a lot of water back in the aquifer"..."Those acres are surrogate dwellings providing shallow-water habitat. The majority of the birds in the field are looking for aquatic invertebrates, such as fly, wasp and beetle larvae. Every time it floods, new larvae hatch as the water recedes. Fish and Game has spent roughly $131,000 in HIP funding on flood-irrigation projects statewide...He is also monitoring birds, identifying species and counting them, as part of his agreement with NRCS..."

Upper Klamath irrigators challenge water transfer to wildlife refuge, Capital Press 10/1/21. "A lawsuit claims Oregon water regulators have authorized a water transfer to a wildlife refuge without properly analyzing the impacts on Upper Klamath irrigators.

Reclamation DENIES Klamath Irrigators their stored water despite exceeding the minimum required water for fish,violating laws, rights, contracts, and integrity! Letter from Bureau of Reclamation to Klamath Water Users Association/KWUA 9/27/21

Regulation of Project water not deserved, by Klamath Water Users Association Executive Director and attorney Paul Simmons, letter to H&N 7/2/21. "...it is not fair or right to require Project irrigators to mitigate impacts they do not cause..."

BOR letter to Klamath Irrigation District: No Water for Klamath Irrigators in 2021 5/12/21

Ineffective environmental practice turns off the tap for Klamath Basin farmers during drought, Oregon Rep E. Werner Reschke 5/13/21.

Extreme drought conditions force closure of Klamath Project’s “A” Canal, Bureau of Reclamation News Release KBC 5/12/21. "Klamath Project’s “A” Canal will remain closed for the 2021 irrigation season."

Judge refuses to restrict water releases from Upper Klamath Lake, Capital Press 5/6/21

KWUA seeks further legal clarification on Klamath Project operations, H&N 4/24/21. “As Reclamation admits, it is not adhering to the interim plan,” the motion read. “Non-adherence to the interim plan translates to the severe detriment of KWUA’s members and farm and ranch families served by the Klamath Project..." "KWUA also argued that there are pressing legal issues concerning project operations that must go before a judge, particularly in light of court cases in Oregon that have found that Reclamation does not have the authority to satisfy ESA requirements (whether through sending water downriver or keeping it in Upper Klamath Lake) at the expense of Project irrigators..."

KDD diversion continues, Reclamation could release more lake water in response, H&N, posted to KBC 5/2/21. “In the past, Reclamation has directed KDD to divert under this state permit when project water isn’t available...On March 30, OWRD declared that stored water in Upper Klamath Lake was not flowing through Link River Dam and that all water available in the river was live flow. Desmond said KDD took that as permission to be able to make diversions in April, and that other private water users along the river in Oregon have similar state permits that allowed them to do the same...the Bureau plans to reduce Upper Klamath Lake levels to make up for KDD’s diversion..."

KLAMATH LAKE APRIL 22, 2021
The Bureau of Reclamation is not allowing farmers to irrigate with their stored water in Klamath Lake until the water rises a few inches to water the suckers.

Extreme drought conditions force closure of Klamath Project’s “A” Canal, Bureau of Reclamation News Release KBC 5/12/21. "Klamath Project’s “A” Canal will remain closed for the 2021 irrigation season."

Klamath Water Users Association brings legal challenge to Klamath Project operations, KWUA News Release 4/22/21. "Klamath Water Users Association filed court papers to re-open a lawsuit and seek a ruling that the Bureau of Reclamation’s current approach to regulating water deliveries for the Klamath Project is illegal. KWUA filed a motion in federal court asking the court to lift a stay of existing litigation and then rule on critical legal issues that affect irrigation water availability...The Yurok Tribe and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) sued the Bureau of Reclamation and National Marine Fisheries Service for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) related to Project operations that had been adopted to control Project operations from 2019-2024...."

Klamath farmers are frustrated, up against a wall,  Siskiyou Daily News: Liz Writes Life: 4/20/21. Photo: Upper Klamath Lake is nearly to the brim. "the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced that the Klamath Project will receive about six percent of its needed irrigation water for more than 220,000 acres in the Project...That hurts a lot of farmers and also means six wildlife refuges will lose water that gives life to 433 species, including ESA-listed bald eagles. Also, the Klamath Bureau of Reclamation announced it would not allow any irrigation until after May 15..." 2021.

4/15/21 - Today the Bureau of Reclamation released their verdict of 32,000 acre feet of irrigation water for the entire Klamath Reclamation Project to be available in June. At this public meeting KWUA President Ben DuVal had to break the devastating news to the community because the Bureau of Reclamation refused to attend. Congressman LaMalfa’s office attended as well as elected officials from Modoc and Siskiyou Counties. There might be a possibility of another small amount of water this fall, if the tribal lawsuits fail to shut us down completely. VIDEO KWUA 2021 Operations Meeting, April 15, 2021. https://kwua.org/kwua-2021-operations-meeting/

Klamath Water Users Association statement regarding DOI withdrawal of updated Klamath Project legal guidance, KWUA Press Release 4/8/21. "(Previous legal guidance: "...the only legally authorized use of water stored in Upper Klamath Lake is irrigation.." )

Final order prohibiting release of stored irrigation water, OWRD / Oregon Water Resources Dept, 4/6/21

Bureau of Reclamation's threat to KID / Klamath Irrigation District 4/2/2021. Letter from Bureau of Reclamation to Klamath Irrigation District attorney Nathan Rietmann, threatening KID with federal court and "potential suspension or exclusion from the drought relief funding program this year..." if KID so much as takes their stored irrigation water from Klamath Lake, "even to charge the canals."

***Klamath Irrigation District v. US Bureau of Reclamation, regarding Waters of the Klamath River Basin, Emergency Motion for Preliminary Injunction 3/29/21. "...Reclamation sometimes says it is using stored water in UKL to fulfill trust obligations it has to the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes, both of which are located in California. But Reclamation’s trust obligations to the tribes in California afford no water rights to use stored water in UKL, as neither Tribe (nor Reclamation on their behalf) has ever claimed a water right in UKL in the Klamath Adjudication..."

What's in a species? For suckers, some lines are blurred, H&N 3/26/2021. "...scientists have yet to find a way to genetically distinguish shortnose and largescale suckers in the Lost River...geographic and temporal separation is what divides the Basin’s sucker population into separate species...another study confirming the lack of a genetic difference between shortnose and largescale suckers in the Lost River Basin won’t have an immediate effect on management practices there, particularly as it pertains to ESA implementation..."

Klamath farmers confront dry year, legal challenge, CFBF 3/24/2021. "...Environmental groups challenged the plan's continued allowance of leasing refuge lands for agriculture as inconsistent with the refuges' purpose of waterfowl management. Conversely, the Tulelake Irrigation District challenged the new restrictions as inconsistent with the Kuchel Act, which identifies agriculture as a key purpose of the refuges...John Crawford, president of the Tulelake Irrigation District board of directors, farms on the refuge and said he is proud of local farmers' contribution to the waterfowl population...'We leave a tremendous amount of grain standing there for ducks and geese every year. Right now, there's thousands of geese utilizing that standing grain that was left last fall...' "...U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it anticipates it will not have enough water this summer to meet minimum requirements for endangered fish, let alone to fulfill irrigation demands."

Dry year intensifies focus on California groundwater, by Danny Merkley, director of water resources for the California Farm Bureau 3/17/21. "...In 2014, the state Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, the most sweeping water management legislation in 100 years...

Further arguments loom in Klamath re-quantification ruling, Capital Press 3/17/21. "...Because the judge’s legal opinion from last month hasn’t yet been reduced to an order, that means the Klamath tribes can enforce their water rights to shut off irrigation in the meantime..."

Haaland OK'd at Interior, 1st Native American Cabinet head, Capital Press 3/15/21. "...Some Republican senators have criticized Haaland's views on oil drilling and other energy development as “radical” and extreme, citing her opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and her support for the Green New Deal...“Rep. Haaland has chosen to ignore the science and the scientists of the very department that she is now nominated to lead,'' Barrasso said, calling on Interior to remove protections for the grizzly under the Endangered Species Act..."

Meet Interior's new water lawyer Daniel Cordalis, Greenwire 3/11/21. "Cordalis went on to work for Earthjustice, a leading environmental law and advocacy firm." (KBC NOTE - Soros-funded Earthjustice provides legal services for the coalition of NGO's and tribes against Klamath irrigators, as well as other Klamath Basin resource users: loggers, miners, ranchers.)  "On behalf of the Yurok, Cordalis filed multiple lawsuits challenging the Trump Reclamation's management of the Klamath project."

Klamath Project Water is currently unavailable from Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, Bureau Of Reclamation Notice to Project irrigators, 3/12/21. "This letter is to notify you that water is currently unavailable from Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) and the Klamath River for irrigation purposes within the Klamath Project (Project) for the reasons further explained below. Accordingly, your district is hereby directed to delay diversions of water from UKL and the Klamath River until further notice..."

Klamath Irrigation District updated Klamath water supply tracking charts at http://klamathirrigation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/WaterManagementUpdate_202103.pdf

Oregon Supreme Court: Order denying petition for Writ of Mandamus and dismissing motion to stay, signed by Martha L. Walters, Chief Justice, Supreme Court 2/2/2021. In KID vs OWRD, The supreme court denied OWRD stay. They must abide by Judge Bennett's order and take over the Link River dam and abide by Oregon Law.

Feds plan to update guidance for Klamath Project operations, H&N, 1/27/2021. "A 41-page report produced by the Bureau’s Klamath Basin Area Office argued that the agency does not have as much authority to protect species listed under the Endangered Species Act as it is currently exercising."

Feds reassess Klamath Project water delivery obligations, Capital Press 1/22/2021. "Agency finds no legal right to curtail water deliveries under ESA, as in the past"...."Biden has nominated Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., as Interior secretary. If confirmed, she would be the first Native American cabinet secretary and head of the Interior Department."

Bureau of Reclamation NEWS RELEASE - Reclamation releases water reliability in the West report 1/19/21

KWUA NEWS RELEASE: Bureau of Reclamation updates guidance for Klamath Project Operations under Endangered Species Act and water law 1/19/2021. “...Reclamation has found that it still has duties for species protection, but those duties do not include imposing harmful shortages on irrigation as we have seen in the past...”

KID wins again, Oregon Court of Appeals, KID vs OWRD 1/14/2021. OWRD's/Oregon Water Resources Department's motion for stay is now "moot". Judge Bennett's order, that OWRD must not allow stored water in Klamath Lake reserved for irrigation to be illegally used or dumped into the ocean, is not currently appealable.

***Circuit Court of Oregon to Klamath Irrigation District, KID vs OWRD (Oregon Water Resources Department) 12/17/20. "...the Oregon Water Rights Act and this court's order...require the Respondents, and in particular the Watermaster, Danette Watson, to prohibit the distribution of Stored Water unless it is for a legally permissible use by parties with an established right or license to use the Stored Water...Petitioner, having an established interest in the Stored Water in the UKL, certainly has standing to demand that the Watermaster stop the distribution to any person who does not have a right, recognized by OWRD, to take and use the Stored Water."

Reschke, Iverson: Oregon must stop sending Klamath water to California, H&N 11/3/2020. "Instead of complying with the court order, however, OWRD announced they plan to fight the ruling. OWRD is seeking a legal stay to allow them to continue to illegally divert water while their appeal is pending. And now California special interest groups are joining OWRD in the lawsuit."

Letter from Department of Interior  Solicitors to Daniel H. Jorjani, Solicitor, regarding Bureau of Reclamations Klamath Basin water management 10/28/2020. "...Reclamation’s discretion on how the Project is operated and whether certain consequences to listed species and their habitat are effects of the Project operations is almost certainly constrained by various contracts with Klamath Project water users..."

President Donald J. Trump is Modernizing America’s Water Resource Management and Infrastructure, Whitehouse 10/14/2020.

Farmers, ranchers can run Basin better than 'experts,' H&N letter to editor by David Hill, Merrill 9/30/2020. "...For more than 20 years now, the agriculture community have been the whipping boy for all the problems concerning the salmon, sucker and algae in the Klamath Lake Basin. So called “experts” from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the tribes above and below the lake, fisheries personnel, a local MD, biologists and others have told us how to fix the problem: Fence the riparian area of all streams, remove 30-40,000 acres of productive farm ground along the lake, keep water levels high in lake, remove cattle or keep manure out of lake. All the above have been done and nothing works. Maybe the decline in suckers is due to the trophy trout population consuming the sucker fry or the cormorants and terns and other fish eating birds are responsible. Cormorants and terns are major factors with salmon fry in the Columbia River system...
KBC NOTE: for more on fish predators cormorants and predators Caspian Terns relocated TO the Klamath Basin, go to our  Refuge Page articles

Idaho leads the way in water management, Capital Press 9/26/2020. "...In addition to expanding reservoir capacity behind dams, the state has an aggressive aquifer recharge effort underway." " ...should leaders in Washington, California and Oregon continue to succumb to the fad of taking out dams and face more water shortages, higher electricity costs and a jumbled transportation system as a result, they need only look to Idaho to see where they went wrong."

Klamath Irrigation District Manager responds to the question, "How much water was illegally taken from Project irrigators and sent to the ocean this year?" 9/15/2020

Reclamation announces more water for Klamath Project, refuges, H&N 9/6/2020

***KID / Klamath Irrigation District vs OWRD/Oregon Water Resources Department 7/30/20: "...respondents are ordered to stop releasing Stored Water from the UKL (Upper Klamath Lake) without determining that the release is for a permitted purpose by users with an established right, license, or permit to use the Stored Water in the UKL"

DOI secretary makes rare appearance at Klamath Project Says Trump will “expect results” Western Livestock Journal 7/16/2020. “The Hoopa and Yurok tribes never made a claim to a water right in the Klamath adjudication,” he said. “Under law, if you don’t make a claim, you don’t have a right.” ...a briefing filed by the state of Oregon in 2018 made the same point, stating “the Yurok and Hoopa Tribes have no rights to the waters of Upper Klamath Lake.” “As for the Klamath tribe,” Rietmann (KID attorney) added, “they were effectively granted a 1908 water right, which is junior to the farmers’ 1905 water right and can’t curtail that senior right.”

Interior Secretary Bernhardt came to Klamath Falls to help find water solutions, Liz Bowen Column in Siskiyou Daily News, 7/15/2020

Interior Secretary Bernhardt and Reclamation Commissioner Burman travel to Klamath Basin at LaMalfa’s Request, Congressman Doug LaMalfa News Release 7/12/2020. "After Congressman LaMalfa continuously engaged with the Trump Administration, water allocations were restored to the April commitment, and the tens of thousands of acres of already planted crops would be able to survive the growing season. Congressman LaMalfa and Congressman Greg Walden (OR-02) extended the invitation to Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman to visit the Basin for today’s events..."

6/14/2020 - We just received this message from Rex Cozzalio, from Hornbrook on the Klamath River, after the flood last week: "Just found out about it (extreme high water) when the flood occurred.  1780 cubic feet per second, or the equivalent of the top 10-20% WETTEST years on record.  No idea yet why, other than assuming the 'triggering' spore count is above 5 spores/liter, though the OSU report site doesn't support that, so it is likely a 'behind closed doors' special interest arrangement.  The 'flushes' are insane on their own, ESPECIALLY in a drought year, considering the already 'confounding' (their words) results from prior 'experiments' (last year REALLY didn't fit their modeled 'profile').  Since Copco and Iron Gate lakes are already way down from 'borrowed' water to support the prior waste, I can only imagine where the water is coming from, beyond possible programmatic UKL sucker fish reduction of lake level, more from the irrigators, or tapping possible unexpected input flows.  Ironic and worst part is, their 'collaborators' already acknowledge that under their (defective) scenario, due to the studies that prove the environmental benefits the deep water lakes provide, that once the dams are destroyed, the required 'pulses' using confiscated 'unnatural' artificially stored water will INCREASE in 'programmatic' perpetuity.

! Klamath Irrigation District requests a temporary restraining order against OWRD, Director Byler and Watermaster Watson, filed 6/12/2020. Bureau Of Reclamation, with an agreement with PacifiCorp, is presently diverting an extreme amount Klamath Irrigators' stored water into Klamath River, and Upper Klamath Lake elevation is rapidly lowering: "...enough to supply one acre foot of water to at least the 10,342 acres of land in Klamath Basin Improvement District, 3,911 acres of land in Shasta View Irrigation District, 2,981 acres of land within Enterprise Irrigation, and 904 acres of land in Pine Grove Irrigation District, which are shut-off and not receiving any water from UKL reservoir..."

BOR PRESS RELEASE: Reclamation secures 2020 water supply for Klamath Project, 6/9/2020. "...Reclamation will deliver approximately 140,000 acre-feet to the Klamath Project from Upper Klamath Lake in 2020..."

Copco and Iron Gate reservoir levels to remain below normal through June, H&N 5/24/2020

Klamath water decisions will cause farms to close, by Ben DuVal for H&N, posted to KBC 5/26/2020. "The only reason it’s even available (for Klamath River Salmon) is the reservoirs that were built for a single purpose - storing irrigation water for the Klamath farmers. How does a legitimate Biological Opinion include water that naturally would have never even existed?...My farm, like many on the Project, was developed on land that was under 10’ or more of water until that time. Now, we are told that there isn’t even 0.5 acre-foot available for that same acre...(Also) Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) is being held at a higher level than necessary, purportedly to allow sucker populations in UKL to access spawning habitat. Unfortunately, for the past 20 years, agency-imposed higher and higher UKL levels have contributed to a whopping 0% survivability....Does it seem rational to continue to ruin the economic base of the Klamath Basin in order to save zero fish?"

Irrational Klamath water management a formula for failure commentary by Tulelake farmer Ben DuVal for the Capital Press May 14, 2020. "While it looks like the Klamath Project will only get as little as 55,000 acre-feet in a year that irrigation demand would be approximately 400,000 acre-feet, we are going to send a minimum 152,000 acre-feet of stored water from Upper Klamath Lake down the Klamath River. That’s 152,000 acre-feet, or more, of water that never, under any circumstances, would have been provided by nature. The only reason it’s even available is the reservoirs that were built for a single purpose — storing irrigation water for the Klamath farmers."

A disaster on our hands, H&N, 5/8/2020. "The Klamath Project ...is now facing a possible water shutoff by or before July. The water allocation of 140,000 acre feet for the Project announced (by Reclamation) in April will likely drop to...an unofficial estimate of 55,000 acre feet left for the remainder of the irrigation season...For comparison, 350,000 acre feet is a full allocation for the Project... 'This is a significant reduction from the 140,000 acre feet we were told in April,” Souza said in an email on Friday. “Farmers have planted crops, hired workers, and have made plans based upon the 140,000 acre feet … and the rug is currently being pulled out from underneath them.' "
KBC NOTE: Yesterday, May 8th, approximately 100 farmers and ranchers gathered to be told that the Bureau will probably shut off their water in June, contrary to what they promised in April. Also the Bureau is sending massive amounts of water down the Klamath River contrary to a court order: "The BOR is hereby ordered to cease releasing stored water from UKL reservoir..." 
   The Bureau's interim report concludes, "the cumulative impacts (to help fish) are likely to be minor, as sucker recovery, coho enhancement, and changes to the biological resources would require a much longer time frame to be implemented and their effects are speculative beyond the period of analysis.”

Project irrigators protest Reclamation's unlawful use of water, H&N 4/28/2020. "An interim order put in place by Oregon Water Resources Department on April 21 gave the state agency charge over the water distribution and demanded that Reclamation not use water from Upper Klamath Lake, including in a flushing flow down the Link River Dam, unless it follows specific guidelines outlined in the order. The order has not stopped the recent 40,000 acre foot flushing flow... The federal government’s stealing from us.”

Response to massive flows diverted out of Klamath Project irrigation water storage by Klamath River resident Rex Cozzalio, Hornbrook 4/26/2020 "...For them to continue water wasting against court orders is revealingly ironic, when BOR, OWR, and 'collaborators' are all too happy to comply when court orders are AGAINST the Upper Basin irrigators.  I truly hope this can intervene soon enough to avert total Upper Basin carnage this year..."

Klamath Project operations unchanged by OWRD ruling, H&N 4/26/2020. KBC Note: The article reads: "The order urges the Bureau of Reclamation to stop releasing stored water from Upper Klamath Lake..."  The court order reads: "The BOR is hereby ordered to cease releasing stored water from UKL reservoir..." They continue to divert our stored water out of Upper Klamath Lake.

Klamath water allocation short of demand for farmers, ranchers, Capital Press 4/24/2020. "The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will provide approximately 140,000 acre-feet of water to farms and ranches from Upper Klamath Lake in 2020...only one-third of historical demand for the Klamath Project...The plan, finalized Wednesday, comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by the Yurok Tribe, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources against the bureau, seeking an additional 50,000 acre-feet of water for salmon..."

OWRD takes charge of Upper Klamath Lake, H&N 4/24/2020. "The (court) order said it prohibits U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from diverting stored water in Upper Klamath Lake through Link River for purposes of a 50,000 acre-feet flushing flow without a water right."  KBC NOTE: Rumor has it that the Bureau is defying the court order and continues to divert our stored water into the ocean.

TID, KID anticipate significant Klamath water supply shortfall, H&N 4/24/2020. "...We fear being able to start and then getting shut down for the rest of the season, like mid-season...”

OWRD/Oregon Water Resource Dept: Interim Order Concerning Release of Stored Water, 4/23/2020. "The Department confirms that as of April 16, 2020, it has taken exclusive charge of the UKL for the purpose of dividing and distributing the water therefrom in accordance with the respective and relative rights of the various users of water from the ditch or reservoir..."

April's EXTREME "pulse flows", 6000cfs, dewatering Klamath irrigators' stored water 4/23/2020 from rancher Rex Cozzalio, Hornbrook, CA on the Klamath River. The 3 photos of flooding are Iron Gate flow wasted over the spillway, Hornbrook on the Klamath River, and Klamathon Bridge near Hornbrook.


On our Klamath Basin Crisis Facebook Page, a question was asked "Why are the Yutok stating they did not receive the 40,000af flushing flows per the Herald and News ? "
Klamath Irrigation District manager Gene Souze responded, "the 40,000 is an additional augmentation to 400,000 environmental water agreed to by Reclamation to stay a 50,000 litigation for more in this drought year. To date they have received nearly 250,000 + 7000 + 8000...and should have well over 422,500 by the end of September. For them to complain about not getting water..."

Reclamation releases Interim Operating Procedures and 2020 Operations Plan for the Klamath Project, Bureau of Reclamation News Release 4/22/2020. "the Project supply from Upper Klamath Lake for the 2020 irrigation season is approximately 140,000 acre-feet. This volume is approximately one-third the historical irrigation demand of the Klamath Project...The 2020 Operations Plan ... provides increased water flows in the Klamath River for Endangered Species Act-listed coho, as well as Chinook salmon, and maintains Upper Klamath Lake elevations important for endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers..." KBC NOTE: Rec concludes "...Finding of No Significant Impact related to the Interim Operating Procedures..." however the plan states that "...involuntary land fallowing of productive irrigable land within the Proposed Action Alternative area would occur leading to an increased risk to local rural agricultural communities.” OUR "risk" of them putting our stored water into the ocean: No water, no farms.

!!! Bureau of Reclamation NEWS RELEASE: Reclamation to implement Klamath River flushing flow for salmon health 4/21/2020. "Increased flows to begin April 22 and continue through May 1; public urged to take safety precautions on or near the river while flows are high...flows below Iron Gate Dam will increase from approximately 1,325 cubic feet per second up to 6,000 cfs. Increased releases out of Upper Klamath Lake will occur simultaneously..." KBC NOTE: The Klamath Project is projected to receive less than 50% of their deeded water this season. With this huge increased taking of Project water, the Bureau of Reclamation's draft Project operation plan, (https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_project_details.php?Project_ID=42926) states: “During the three-year period of the Proposed Action Alternative, the cumulative impacts (to help fish) are likely to be minor, as sucker recovery, coho enhancement, and changes to the biological resources would require a much longer time frame to be implemented and their effects are speculative beyond the period of analysis.” However they operation plan promises, "...involuntary land fallowing of productive irrigable land within the Proposed Action Alternative area would occur leading to an increased risk to local rural agricultural communities.” After the three years they will inform us of their NEW plan after they destroy the Klamath River Hydroelectric Dams and downsize agriculture in the Klamath Project.

Bureau of Reclamation ERROR - TODAY April 2014 by 11:59 pm you must RESUBMIT your public comment letter with a new address on the Klamath Project interim operations because they gave you the wrong email address. First they gave us only 9 days to review their entire plan to downsize irrigated agriculture, then they threw in one more day. Just yesterday, April 13, late afternoon they said they didn’t receive our public input because of their error and only gave us ONE MORE DAY to hopefully see their email and RESUBMIT our comments, in the middle of spring farming!  4/14/2020.
Public Comment by Oregon Rep E Werner Reschke on Klamath Project Operation Plan, submitted 4/10/2020.
Public Comment by Rex Cozzalio on Klamath Project Operation Plan, resubmitted 4/14/2020.
Public Comment on Klamath Project Op Plan, resubmitted by Tulelake Farmer 4/11/2020.
 

PRESS RELEASE - Congressman LaMalfa: Farmers Need Maximum Water Allocations to Ensure Stable Food Supply Chain, April 9, 2020, followed by LaMalfa's full letter to President Trump. "...I ask that you direct the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Commerce to waive any restrictions on granting 100% water allocations to farmers and water districts, along with waiving outdated Endangered Species Act requirements..."

KWUA Announces Projected Klamath Project Irrigation Allocation; Drought Response Agency Expects to Open Programs April 15 4/6/2020. “Bottom line, we’re looking at less than half of the water that’s needed,” said TID Manager Brad Kirby

Agreement Buys Time on New Klamath Project Ops Plan, KWUA 3/30/2020.

 Klamath Project irrigators face challenging water year, H&N 3/6/2020. "Irrigators could see 50% or less of the normal water supply for irrigation this spring and summer..."

Drought declared in Klamath County, H&N 3/5/2020. "The action is due to a snow water equivalent that has dipped to 65% of normal with a forecast of warm weather on the horizon. A drought declaration is aimed at providing opportunities for farmers to apply for aid to supplement losses..."

Klamath Project farmers say question marks loom over coming season, Capital Press 2/19/2020. "Without those plans — known collectively as the Klamath Project Biological Opinion, or BiOp — Kirby said he cannot predict how much water will be available for the 400-plus family farms and 65,000 irrigated acres in his district...a lawsuit filed by the Yurok Tribe in California, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Institute for Fisheries Resources also seeks a preliminary injunction to keep another 50,000 acre-feet of water in-stream for Klamath River salmon this year..."  KBC NOTE: "PCFFA, IFFR and Yurok Tribe, all signatories to the closed-door Klamath water "agreements," have sued Klamath Irrigators in the Takings Case claiming they should must not be reimbursed for the 2001 water shutoff, when many family farmers, with deeds signed by a U.S. president with "water appurtenant" to their land, went bankrupt." Those groups petitioned against the farmers on water quality, water quantity, and are still demanding that the Klamath River hydro dams are removed.

A 'wait and see' world for water users regarding Upper Klamath Basin wells regulated by OWRD, H&N 12/19/19

OWRD to host groundwater management open house Dec 17, H&N 11/22/19

Lower Klamath refuge to start getting water, KWUA 9/5/19. “Even in a year with 130 percent of average precipitation, we still did not have a full allocation to the Project,” said Klamath Irrigation District Manager Gene Souza. "The ESA requirements for fish are overwhelmingly the biggest risk to the water needs of the Refuge as well as the Project.”

After Klamath River flushes, C. shasta spores spike, surprising scientists, H&N online 5/14/19. "the number of spores actually spiked three or four weeks after the river flushing was completed earlier this spring." "The JC Boyle Dam in Klamath County, Ore., is one of four slated to be removed from the Klamath River under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Klamath County Commission and the Klamath River Renewal Corp."

Rules slash regulatory reach over Upper Klamath wells, Capital Press, posted to KBC 4/24/19. “Pumping shutdowns by the Oregon Water Resources Department have been a source of controversy in the Upper Klamath Basin in recent years, with the agency facing multiple lawsuits arguing that regulated wells aren’t actually interfering with surface water rights... 'Overall, the rules are still bad for us, bad for the entire state of Oregon,' said Tom Mallams, an area farmer who sat on a “rules advisory committee” about the interim regulations. 'It’s unlikely OWRD will actually abide by a provision stating that the interim rules won’t set a precedent,' he said. 'Water Resources say they won’t or say they will, and they don’t stick to it. The final rules may again increase the number of wells subject to regulation while retaining provisions about the adverse impacts from groundwater pumping, hindering irrigators from challenging shutdowns in court,' said Mallams.'The OWRD likely reduced the distance in the interim rules to avoid court challenges in the meantime,' he said. 'That’s a very appealing carrot to the irrigators, but we know that’s just to put a stop to the litigation against them.' ”

Irrigation season begins for Klamath Project, followed by Reclamation transitions to modified water operation plan, H&N 4/4/19. "Snowpack as of Tuesday afternoon is up to about 129 percent of average for the Klamath Project, with precipitation resting at 98 percent. Nettleton told irrigators late last month they could anticipate a projected 93 percent allocation, pending the release of the official number, which should be released later this week."

Planning for water uncertainties, H&N 3/31/19. "Despite 121 percent of median snowpack, 101 percent of median precipitation in the Klamath Basin and a 93 percent water allocation for Klamath Project irrigators, uncertainties for some farmers in the Basin remain...In 2019, I plan on planting some permanent crops,” Paul said during the meeting. “With the new biological opinion, how likely am I going to be able to irrigate those crops in the future years?...If one out of three years we won’t be irrigating, I can’t make that work...2019 might look good, but with this new biological opinion, you have no certainty..."

KID, KWUA sue agencies over water supply followed by Fears of Flooding, H&N 4/7/19.

Conference call on water April 12 in Klamath; OWRD to host OWRC conference call 3/28/19. "The OWRD will ask the commission to consider adoption of proposed rules that manage groundwater and surface water in the Upper Klamath Basin."

Deputy Reclamation commissioner tours Klamath Basin, H&N 11/29/18.

Suckers thrived in warm water with low lake levels, H&N KBC 11/11/18

Klamath Tribes drop ESA lawsuit against BOR. Merkley to hold PRIVATE Sucker Recovery Summit November 16 in Klamath Falls, H&N 11/9/18.

CORRECTION: In the article below, Capital Press edited out 1/2 of Mallam's sentence. The sentence should read: "Modeling experts have also examined OWRD's modeling and their analysis actually includes the word 'fraudulent.' " Capital Press left out of the sentence: "...and their analysis actually includes the word 'fraudulent.' "

KLAMATH BASIN: Oregon state agencies out of control, by Tom Mallams for Capital Press 10/13/18. "Their computer model claims wells interfere with surface water, if the well is within one mile of any waterway. This year’s shutoffs include 2 wells for the city of Klamath Falls, all of Bly and all of Chiloquin. Also shut off are many wells used for irrigating crops, watering livestock and some homes that use spring water. Additionally, wells used for major businesses including Jeld-Wen, Running Y Ranch Resort and Harbor Links golf course were issued shutoff notices. Each year, the number of wells being shut off grows...Problem is, OWRD, when pressured, actually admitted that the one mile number could be expanded...you are automatically deemed guilty unless you prove your innocence. Not exactly what the Constitution says. The way OWRD modeling is framed, it is literally impossible to prove your innocence. OWRD even admitted that this is indeed the case...Thousands of Oregon businesses and citizens will be denied their ability to survive in this openly hostile state governmental environment..."

LaMalfa PRESS RELEASE - House Republicans Welcome Executive Action on Western Water. U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa, California's First District 10/19/18. "...Communities across California have also been devastated as senseless government regulations have mandated that billions of gallons of water be flushed out to the ocean and wasted..."

Judge urges state to act on Upper Klamath Lake water distribution, H&N 8/8/18. "...judge...ruled in favor of the Klamath Irrigation District...by urging the Oregon Water Resources Department to make a determination on the distribution of water in Upper Klamath Lake..."

Klamath County Commissioners float concept of new gauge in Wood River, H&N 8/8/18. "...The goal here is to make sure that we have captured all the water in the river so that we have accurate data for all the stakeholders..."

Upper Klamath Basin cattle revenues dip 50 percent, H&N 8/2/18. "Several Upper Basin irrigators shared concerns with Klamath County Commissioners on Wednesday about the approximate 50 percent loss in cattle revenue in the region, a dive that irrigators link to a call on water by the Klamath Tribes, validated by Oregon Water Resources Department...Some of the concerns shared by irrigators include no stockwater delivery for Modoc Point irrigators...“Historically Modoc Point has never been cut off (from) water...”

Bly imposes water restrictions, H&N 6/14/18

Tribal call restricts Chiloquin water use, H&N 6/13/18. "...residents in Chiloquin cannot use city water for anything other than human consumption following a call on water by the Klamath Tribes..."

Water, federal aid enroute to Klamath Project, H&N 6/3/18. "The Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Basin Area Office said that there is roughly 55,000 to 56,000 acre feet available to the Klamath Project during June, with a total of about 195,000 to 200,000 acre feet anticipated for the summer irrigation season..."

Water on the way to Klamath Project, H&N, 5/24/18. "...up to 3,500 acre feet is available for delivery to Klamath Project irrigators starting today and running through May 31 before deliveries start on June 1..."

Local water supply faces threat, H&N letter by Scott Bunyard 5/16/18

Survival mode: Pacificorp, irrigators to share water, H&N 5/16/18

State water actions taken without first determining what the actual facts are, by Senator Dennis Linthicum, Commentary for H&N 5/15/18. "Scientific examination would clarify that some wells do impact surface waters while others do not. OWRD seems to suggest that in all cases, at all times, and in all circumstances, groundwater wells impact surface flows...OWRD ought to know with certainty that an individual well is harming a senior water right-holder, before shutting-down specific water resources..."

PRESS RELEASE: Reclamation begins emergency dilution flows early Monday (May 7) in Klamath River; Water releases from Iron Gate Dam will continue through May 21; public urged to take safety precautions 5/7/18. "The emergency dilution flows will utilize approximately 50,000 acre-feet of water from Upper Klamath Lake..."

The State has turned off all of our water including our wells! by Brandan Topham, Sprague River, Newsletter 5/7/18. "Most of the irrigation wells have been drilled since 1950...we have river data for 32 years before the wells were drilled. In those 32 years the average flow is 860cfs. Since 1951 the average flow is 1052cfs. That means since the wells have been drilled there is almost another 200 cfs in the rivers. That does not sound like the wells are drying up the rivers...Every few years they keep changing the rules to shut off more stuff. This year they figured out how to shut off ~140 wells in addition to what they have been shutting off in the past for the Klamath Tribes. Last year they shut off every thing even with river flows well above average..."

Walden to speed up relief for on-Project irrigators, H&N 5/2/18. "Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Basin Area Office Manager Jeff Nettleton also addressed the order issued by Orrick, with intentions to appeal it."

Project water delivery discussed following judge's decision. Walden, BOR to address irrigators today, H&N 5/2/18. "A tentative time frame for Klamath Project water delivery of somewhere between June 1 and 15 was announced Tuesday by the Bureau of Reclamation...Part of BOR’s plan going forward, according to officials, is that the agency is considering asking for a total 14,500 acre feet of water from the Horsefly and Langell Valley irrigation districts. That amount, coupled with 10,500 acre feet borrowed from PacifiCorp reservoirs, could help irrigation districts make it through the month. 'They feel like that would cover KID (Klamath Irrigation District) and Tulelake Irrigation District through the month of May...' "

Letter from Ann SeCoy, Beatty, Oregon to Klamath County Commissioners, Oregon State and Federal Representatives & Senators regarding 140 Upper Klamath ag wells shut off, and responses from Senator Linthicum and Rep. Reschke 4/30/18.

KID (Klamath Irrigation District) seeks state control over water distribution, H&N,  4/29/18.
KID letter to the state, H&N, 4/24/18

Tensions rise at KID (Klamath Irrigation District); Irrigators allege water mismanagement, H&N 4/24/18. "KID members claim PacifiCorp is sending excess water down the Klamath River and that the BOR is not managing their water effectively. “That water is basically getting stolen from us,” Kliewer said. “The Project has the superior water right in the Basin. PacifiCorp has a junior water right to us, and right now, and the way PacifiCorp has operated, basically whatever way they want, they just take it … We are a big body of water that’s really easy to steal.” "(Klamath Project irrigators are awaiting a) ruling from Judge William H. Orrick regarding water delivery for the Project."

3 Open houses for OWRD plans to shut off off project irrigation water:
Sprague River: April 30th (somewhere)
May 1 Chiloquin 10-1
May 1 Klamath County Fairgrounds 3-6
OWRD to regulate groundwater wells in upper Basin, H&N 4/22/18. "We will be regulating surface water and groundwater at the same time," he said, noting water users can expect to receive notices to shut off water use for both surface and groundwater..." (said Matt Anderson, OWRD).

Irrigators await Federal court ruling, H&N 4/22/18. "...The local irrigation districts claim that the prevalence of infection of fish are “misleading” and have asked that the court stay the injunction. The delay is holding up much needed spring water for irrigators in the Basin, as water supply canals low and inactive..."

'A lot on the line' in water hearing. Irrigators wait on Klamath River court decision, H&N 4/12/18 KBC NOTE/short update: Presently the Bureau of Reclamation will not allow Klamath irrigators to even put water in the ditches to prepare for spring irrigation until they get direction from District Judge William Orrick. We can not plan to borrow money to plant fields, or not to plant. Will we keep or lose contracts from buyers who purchase grain, onions, potatoes, mint... , keep or lose fields, keep or lose those renting our fields. One judge can determine the fate of our entire farm community,  when or if he will allow us to irrigate, thus farm, this year. Will our perennial crops that took years and tens of thousands of $ to establish, live or die? Our stored irrigation water is being sent down the Klamath River, with not a drop on our farms.

Water Resources Dept. has only itself to blame for its high legal costs, by Randall Kizer, guest writer for H&N 4/8/18. "...OWRD has control over whether it follows the law or not in regulating water users in the Klamath Basin. And irrigators in the Upper Klamath Basin are tired of the agency not carrying out its regulatory responsibilities..."

PRESS RELEASE - Reclamation to increase water releases to Klamath River today to address fish health concerns. Increased flows to begin this afternoon and continue through Monday; Public urged to take safety precautions on or near the river while flows are high, BOR 4/6/18

Klamath Tribe complaints regarding ranchers being allowed drinking water and water for livestock. 4/2/18. Watering crops and pasture on Upper Klamath private land is presently forbidden by Klamath Tribes.
Upper Basin ranchers get reprieve to water cattle, H&N 3/15/18. "Ranchers in the Upper Basin of Klamath County — and the town of Chiloquin — received an emergency exemption from the call on water Friday allowing them to use water for their stock cattle and for human consumption...The Klamath Tribes has the first rights to the water, which it uses to protect endangered short-nosed sucker and Lost River sucker."

BOR public meeting Tuesday 1 p.m. March 20; Water delivery start date not expected at BOR meeting Tuesday, H&N 3/16/18

Upper Basin ranchers get reprieve to water cattle, H&N 3/15/18. "Ranchers in the Upper Basin of Klamath County — and the town of Chiloquin — received an emergency exemption from the call on water Friday allowing them to use water for their stock cattle and for human consumption...The Klamath Tribes has the first rights to the water, which it uses to protect endangered short-nosed sucker and Lost River sucker."

(Klamath) Irrigators seek answers on water year, H&N 3/11/18. “Bill Heiney, a third-generation Basin irrigator and descendant of a homesteader:... 'When I bought my first piece of ground, my grandfather, he said, 'One thing you won't have to worry about is water,' ” Heiney said, referring a water pact his grandfather had from the U.S. government"

Irrigators gather in Reno to address the drought H&N 2/23/18. "Standing up among the some 200 irrigators and ag people, Hammerich said he believes water storage in the Klamath Basin is a “good deal.” But he wanted to know how storage benefits the Klamath Basin when it butts up against the Endangered Species Act and fish protection." The water just goes downstream, so what are we gaining?” Hammerich asked."

OWRD, KWUA talk drought for Project water users, H&N 2/21/18. "Please keep in mind we have lake levels from a biological opinion that need to be met,” White added. “We have an injunction that’s been placed upon us where more water is required to go downstream as a result of litigation brought by downstream tribes last year.”...“Once the governor issues the drought declaration, then it’s after that time that people can come to the watermaster’s office here and apply for drought emergency permits,” said Kyle Gorman, of OWRD. Permits allow irrigators to use water where the primary source is unavailable, Gorman said, due to drought conditions..."

KWUA appeals to Tribes: Let's talk. OWRD, KWUA to talk 2018 irrigation, H&N 2/18/18. “They’ve felt meaningful, they’ve felt sincere,” White said Friday morning, of previous talks with Tribes representatives. “But then when these notices come out and we don’t get a heads-up that it’s coming out, we don’t have an opportunity to talk to them about it beforehand...It doesn’t feel like the community and the fish are in the best interest of the Tribes,” White said, "… and I hate feeling that way but that’s what it feels like. It feels like there’s something bigger than just the fish going on here."

Klamath Project 2018 Contractors Meeting with KWUA, OWRD, Klamath County Feb 20, 2018, to "bring contractors of the Klamath Reclamation Project current information about the 2018 irrigation season...current hydrology, possible options available, and the process for taking advantage of those options is important information for district and on-farm operations..."

OWRD talks drought, water rights in Basin. Two (City of) Klamath Falls wells subject to call by project, H&N 2/11/18.

Water Claims & Confrontations: (Klamath) irrigators say state shows lack of support, H&N 2/8/18. "...Though 2017 saw so much water in the Basin that multiple areas were flooded, the state still validated a claim on water initiated by the Klamath Tribes...Some irrigators claim that the Tribes have been making blanket calls on water without justification..."

Reclamation cancels water surges on Klamath River, H&N 6/1/17.

Fish over farms — again? We have get back to the table, by Oregon State Senator Dennis Linthicum, District 28, guest writer for H&N 4/30/17  "...On April 13, the Klamath Tribes, who have senior instream rights, notified OWRD of a call on the Wood, Sprague and Williamson Rivers and tributaries, including Upper Klamath Marsh...Riparian areas are thriving and current flows are off the charts, making any talk of drought or shortage simply ridiculous... If the tribes call water during one of the highest water years on record, one can safely wonder if their goal is fishing, hunting or other heritage practices?..."

Tribal chairman defends water call, H&N 4/30/17. "Ranchers in the upper basin have criticized the call, claiming they will have a short window to irrigate and water their cattle this spring, and they have no water available the rest of the summer. Some believe this call could put them out of business....“We're just asking for justice,” Gentry said. “We're just trying to hang onto what has been reserved by treaty despite what has happened to us..."

KBC NOTE: The Klamath Tribal members voted to terminate their tribe. $220,647,000 was paid to the Klamath Tribes. Regarding their votes, "There were return receipts signed by each and every member of the Klamath tribe(Unconquered, Uncontrolled, by Carrol Howe). "One Klamath Indian, Edison Chiloquin...refused to accept the payment and demanded land instead..."  

Regulation headed for Wood River, H&N 4/28/17. “Everybody above the Lower Williamson system, all the way up to Sprague and Sycan and on up into the Williamson itself are effectively regulated..." "snowpack ...ranges anywhere from 130 to 146 percent (in some areas) of average for the water year..."

OWRD responds to Tribes' call on (Klamath) water, H&N, 4/28/17. "I’m very disappointed that this call has been initiated by the Klamath Tribes and validated by the Oregon Water Resources Department at a time when our rivers are literally running over their banks,” (State Rep. E. Werner) Reschke said in a statement. “This decision negatively impacts farmers and ranchers up and down the basin and defies conventional logic. Oregonians lose when we allow one group to exercise exorbitant control over the rights of others..."

Water call should send message Basin needs a real answer, Area needs congressional help for a long-term plan, H&N View, 4/23/17. "...The local community should accept the fact that an overall settlement isn’t going to happen without a land settlement with the Tribes. Yes, land for water. Accept it and move on..." KBC ANALYSIS: H&N got it right...it's not about fish, it's "land for water". Tribes sold reservation. Tribes will call on irrigation water (like happening in this flood year) until they can get their land given back to them again, and the Klamath hydroelectric dams destroyed. Some call it 'blackmail.'

Tribes Issue Water Claim, Ranchers Fear the Worst, H&N,4/23/17. "In April 2014, ranchers and the Tribes signed the Upper Basin Comprehensive Agreement. The ranchers agreed to retire 18,000 acres of land or 30,000 acre feet of water and do riparian repair work on the rivers in exchange for an allotment of water each year…At the end of February, the Tribes indicated to the ranchers they wanted to terminate the agreement..."

(Klamath) Tribal water call: 'Devastating.' Ranchers in the upper basin react to water call, H&N, 4/19/17.

Oregon Rep Reschke seeks comments on three water bills, H&N, 3/21/17. "Installation of measuring devices on streams can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Daily maintenance can add up to thousands of dollars in additional labor costs. The annual reporting, and more often if the Oregon Water Resources Department requests, of 'water amount, rate, and duty' will add thousands of more dollars, annually, in time and additional out-of-pocket expense. 'The inclusion of a $500 civil penalty for each day of violation of the act...' "

Top-notch Deception by Oregon State Senator Dennis Linthicum - District 28, News Ticker Opinion, Wallowa Valley Online 3/21/17. Linthicum represents Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Deschutes and Crook counties. "If a Democrat House member gets his way, the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) will load stiff economic, land and water management problems right into the lap of Oregon’s farmers, ranchers, cattle and dairymen..."

Water decisions are not making any sense, by former Klamath County Commissioner Tom Mallams  H&N, 2/17/17. "The irony of this is so obvious. The rivers are at flood stage or very near it, and OWRD finally lifts the tribal call on the water...This applies to all uses on the listed water right, including stock water, and domestic...surface water, (rivers, creeks and springs), and ground water, (wells). Most all of the rights list irrigation as a listed use." "...A single judge and our federal government send extra water down the Klamath River for fish in the middle of a flood. You would certainly think a flood event would contain enough water for any fish needs, including flush or pulse flows. It is absolutely necessary that logic and true science drive the decisions critical to the survival of our local economies..."

Judge mandates more irrigation water down Klamath River during flood, Liz Writes Life, Siskiyou Daily News, posted 2/20/17

Klamath River floods as Jerry Brown set to tear down dams, Breitbart, posted to KBC 2/18/17. "The un-noticed Klamath River, even with its dam system still in place, is expected to flood and potentially cause serious damage to the North Coast when the rains hit. If four of the seven dams were already torn down, the flood and destruction from the Klamath River would likely have been be epic."

Pulse flow curbed in wake of downstream concerns, H&N, posted to KBC 2/18/17. KBC note: Tribes and environmental groups sought court order to take 100,000 acre feet of water from Klamath Irrigator storage to wash a parasite out of the river on an already high water year.  Tribes saw their homes might get wet. "In the Happy Camp area, where river water levels were reaching the highway, residents were getting nervous...Due to the danger looming downstream and terribly high water levels just from the run-off from the river and side hills, we decided to scale back."

Reclamation pulls back on water releases, H&N 2/11/17.

Bureau to release Klamath water pulse Friday, H&N 2/10/17.

PRESS RELEASE: 2/9/17 - Statement From Representative Werner Reschke On Federal Court Decision Related To Klamath River.

PRESS RELEASE: Reclamation to Release Water Below Iron Gate Dam to Address Fish Health Concerns in Klamath River, Bureau of Reclamation 2/9/17

! Water call made on the Williamson, H&N 11/23/16. "Water users in the upper Klamath Basin have received shutoff notices for surface water use after the Klamath Tribes called on their water rights earlier this month....Water users along the Williamson and its tributaries, as well as the Klamath Marsh, received notices directing them to cease stock and domestic use of surface water until February...this should only affect those diverting water from streams and rivers and said wells, which depend on ground water, are not affected."

Feds asking public to weigh in on breaching Snake River dams, found on This West is Our West from Spokesman Review, posted to KBC 9/30/16.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says she doesn't feel that destroying the Klamath River hydroelectric dams, that supply power for 70,000 households, will set a precedent. however... Jewell letter to FERC supporting destroying 4 hydrodams on the Klamath River 10/17/16

Upper Klamath Basin Nonpoint Source Pollution Assessment and Management Program Plan; Klamath Tribal Water Quality Consortium, Aug 16, 2016, Comments WERE due Sept 18, 2016. Who knew about this plan to eradicate agriculture and all the dams in the Klamath River Basin? received and posted to KBC 9/20/16. KBC NOTE: Participants are 6 tribes (including Karuk and Hoopa), many federal and state agencies, Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, California Coastal Conservancy, ODEQ, State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and dozens more; most of the agencies, tribes and environmental groups are "stakeholders" in the Klamath Basin dam-removal agreements.  "Given the large volumes of water in the Klamath Basin, very large wetlands (on the order of thousands of acres or tens of thousands of acres) would be necessary to have basin-scale effect...", they want to get rid of "... water rights, water availability, and landowner willingness issues...", " TNC recently acquired approximately 4,000 acres adjacent to Agency Lake Ranch and Barnes Ranch which it is in the process of restoring back to wetlands", Wetlands, by the way, evaporates nearly 2ce the amount of water used by irrigated agriculture, "The Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement...calls for inflows to Upper Klamath Lake to be increased by 30,000 acre-feet per year to be achieved by reducing the net consumptive use of water for irrigated agriculture," Roads that are no longer necessary would be considered for ... removal,"..."The Consortium supports reduced irrigation and improved grazing management as a method to reduce irrigation demand," "Once plans are developed for how to remove the dams and appropriate permits are obtained, the dams should be removed. The KHSA targets 2020 as the year in which dam removal would occur."
Comments on the Klamath Tribal Water Quality Consortium by Siskiyou County Water Users Association Rex Cozzalio, received by KBC News 9/20/16

Water shut offs taking place in upper Klamath Basin, H&N 8/2/16

***Dozens of Sprague River wells shut down by Klamath Tribal call on irrigation water, Senator Doug Whitsett 7/28/16.

Water shutoffs start in upper Basin, Klamath Tribes made the call, Wood River could be next, H&N 5/27/16

Hoopa Tribe Sues Federal Government over Inadequate Protections for Juvenile Salmon, Hoopa Valley Tribe PRESS RELEASE, 5/17/16

Full water supply expected, H&N 4/9/16

Klamath Water Users Association has named Scott White (the current watermaster) as its new executive director, H&N 1/20/16. “I think what’s important right now is unity...”

Irrigators wrangle over Klamath Water Users membership, H&N 1/15/16. "The 2016 KID annual budget states the cost for KID irrigators is $238,168...'I can’t say I’m against the Water Users, but I can say that I’m not for them, in the fact that they don’t include all of Klamath County. Every adjudicated, irrigated acre in Klamath County should be included,' said Oxley. 'If it’s not good for everybody, it’s not good.' Horsely agreed that Water Users should be open to more of the county’s farmers."

KBC News notes on last Friday's meeting of Klamath Project irrigation districts to find water solutions in the aftermath of the failed controversial KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, and the resignation of Klamath Water User's executive director, posted to KBC 1/12/16"Tracy Liskey said we will have the same problems again if we leave out the off project irrigators; we need a basin solution. He said 90% of the problem with the KBRA was that all the meetings were in closed door executive sessions and people didn't know what was going on. 'If we don't address issues tearing us apart, we can't bring this together.' Luther Horsely, KWUA past president of the board, said they couldn't talk about the settlement because they were gagged. Brent Cheyne brought a list of solutions he said were necessary." KBC Photo above is of TID/Tulelake Irrigation District Manager Brad Kirby, right, escorting a tribal member out of the building when he loudly interrupted this meeting of irrigation district boards.

Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement Terminated on 12/31/15. "The Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) and Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement (UKBCA) are still in effect, they did not terminate with the KBRA, but they also require federal authorization legislation and their implementation is interdependent with the now-terminated KBRA," by Ed Sheets, Klamath agreements facilitator.

Water district board members meet Friday, H&N 1/6/16. Friday at 1 pm in Merrill, Klamath Basin irrigators meet to find solutions, "to bring community back together." "Under the (controversial KBRA) agreement, Klamath Project irrigators were slated to receive a substantial block of irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake each year if certain instream flows were met in the lake’s tributaries..."

Water district board members meet Friday, H&N 1/6/16. Friday at 1 pm in Merrill, Klamath Basin irrigators meet to find solutions, "to bring community back together." "Under the (controversial KBRA) agreement, Klamath Project irrigators were slated to receive a substantial block of irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake each year if certain instream flows were met in the lake’s tributaries..."

Reclamation Releases Scoping Report on Long-Term Plan for Protecting Late Summer Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River, BOR Press Release, posted to KBC 12/15/15.
Comments on Plan

Irrigation district reverses course, re-joins Klamath Water Users Association, H&N, 11/25/15. "Board member Grant Knoll, who represents KID’s Zone 3, said he voted to dissolve the district’s relationship with Water Users because his constituents do not agree with the policies Water Users stands for..." 'I’ve polled them, and they want to pull out,' Knoll said."

KID / Klamath Irrigation District leaves (Klamath) water users group, H&N posted to KBC 11/18/15. "Board member Brent Cheyne said KID irrigators pay Water Users about $238,000 per year...“It seems to me that some of the political goals of the Water Users contradicts what we are trying to do,” Bair said...."the money being paid to Water Users should instead be dedicated to paying for the multi-million dollar C Canal flume replacement. The flume delivers irrigation water to roughly 22,000 cropland acres in the Klamath Project."

History of water in the Klamath Basin, by Oregon Rep Gail Whitsett 7/26/15.

More water for Project irrigators, H&N 7/24/15. "...on July 19, Upper Klamath Lake was 62 percent full, with a volume of 317,395 acre-feet. Last year on July 19, the lake was only 45 percent full..."

"40 wells Oregon Water Resources Dept. plans to shut off this year. (So far)" This was sent to KBC 7/14/15. These are Upper Klamath Basin Wells.

California waterboard curtailment notices

Water shutoffs along Sprague coming. Some 40 upper Basin wells may be regulated, too, H&N 6/25/15

Bureau makes call for water, shutoffs anticipated, H&N 6/17/15

Senator Whitsett's help to Klamath Basin irrigators Senate Bill 206-A

Public Comment due 5/28/15 on non-Project water conveyance

California waterboard curtailment notices

In Central California - Calif. salmon get truck rides and more during drought; Fish taxi service in place to make sure young salmon survive the trip to the ocean, H&N 5/17/15.
In Klamath Basin - Water deliveries devastated. Allocations slashed to less than half of average annual use, H&N, posted to KBC 5/17/15. "... 11 out of 15 Project irrigation districts that take water from the Klamath system are already shut down and unable to receive water...National Marine Fisheries Service has overspent their environmental water account, which is affecting the Klamath Project irrigators in a negative way,” Addington said. “There’s no consequence for them not managing the water properly.”
In Stanislaus River - "Last week, per order of your federal government, the California Bureau of Reclamation ordered the release of 15,000 acre-feet of water into the Stanislaus River. That comes to 4.8 billion gallons, enough water to supply 178,301 Californians for a year...Six fish needed saving. Not six species of fish; a total of six fish..."

NEWS RELEASE - Reclamation Releases Draft Environmental Documents for Proposed Excess Capacity Contracts for Conveyance of Non-Klamath Project Water 5/14/15
* PUBLIC COMMENT due 5/28/15
LINK Reclamation proposes to enter into contracts with the Klamath Irrigation District, Tulelake Irrigation District, and Langell Valley Irrigation for the use of excess capacity in Klamath Project facilities for storage and conveyance of “Non-Project” water acquired or obtained for private use during the spring-summer irrigation season for a five-year period, from 2015 through 2019.
* Draft FONSI/Finding of No Significant Impact EPA report - KBC
* Draft Environmental Assessment of 5 year contract of water storage and conveyance of non-Project water in Klamath Project for 2015-2019

Irrigators asked to scale back usage. Shutoffs could start on June 1 if water draws continue, H&N, posted to KBC 5/7/15

(Klamath Project) Water bids are out, set fees are in, East Side payments still undecided, H&N, 3/5/15

Public Comment Period Open for Waters of the U.S. Proposed Rule - Comments due 11/14/14

State adopts drought rule; drinking, stock water given preference by commission, H&N posted to KBC 9/28/14.

County, state tussle over water regulations; public works director to sit on water advisory, H&N, posted to KBC 9/20/14.
< Klamath Falls City Councilman Bill Adams speaks about his frustrations with a proposed Oregon Water Resources Department rule on Thursday during a question and answer session at Oregon Tech.   "Klamath County Commissioner Tom Mallams, also an irrigator, spoke in opposition to the proposed rule change. 'This is what I feel is nothing more than trying to put pressure on everybody trying to agree to a settlement that’s very iffy, lacks a lot of support...There is some support … because they have been pushed into a corner, and a gun to their head, as far as I’m concerned, by Oregon Water Resources and our federal government. Water resources in the past has been the champion for irrigated agriculture...I feel they’re one of our worst enemies, and that’s very disheartening.' Mallams also read a statement from State Rep. Gail Whitsett on her behalf: 'We find no viable reason or justification for this permanent rule to apply only to the Klamath River Watershed in Klamath County,' read the statement."

Klamath salmon in danger; additional flows intended to prevent fish die-off, H&N, posted to KBC 9/21/14. "The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) began releasing additional flows from Trinity Reservoir via the Lewiston Dam Tuesday....We must, however, take all reasonable measures to prevent a recurrence of the fish losses experienced in 2002"  KBC NOTE: Water was shut off to Klamath Basin family farms the summer of 2001. After irrigation was restored to irrigators in later, tribes, U.S. Dept of Fish and Game, and environmental groups focused on obliterating farming in the Klamath Basin, blamed Klamath Farmers for fish dying in 2002, 170 miles downstream. Fish Scientist David Vogel (see #'s 19, 22, 23 and 29) explained why sending high flows of warm water from Iron Gate dam was lethal for salmon in the already warm river. According to a Scientist conference in Klamath Falls in 2004, effects of the 2002, 500,000-acre Biscuit Fire smoke were never studied in relation to fish dying that fall. Neither were considered effects of drainoff from drug labs on the Klamath River.

Additional water releases for Klamath River, H&N 8/23/14

KLAMATH COUNTY -  New drought water ruling proposed by officials, H&N 8/16/14. "The public comment period ends at 5 p.m. Sept. 19...A new rule that would allow water for human consumption and stock watering during drought in Klamath County has been proposed by the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD)."

Agency reconsidering water for Klamath salmon, H&N 8/16/14. "Tribal members were going to Sacramento on Tuesday to hold a vigil outside Bureau offices, she said. Since the 1960s, some water from the Trinity has been pumped over the mountains to the Central Valley of California for irrigation. Sierztutowski said some of those irrigation districts have been denied water this year due to the drought."

BOR, PacifiCorp reach agreement on reservoir releases  H&N, posted to KBC 8/16/14. "According to KWAPA Executive Director Hollie Cannon, the combination of consecutive drought years and new rules in place to protect endangered fish in the Klamath watershed means irrigators are given less surface water, forcing them to turn to groundwater..."

Oregon's expansion of regulations of surface and groundwater use, by Senator Doug Whitsett 8/13/14. "What the Department is not making clear to the public is that their proposed permanent rules make substantial and critical changes to the existing emergency rule. The rule being proposed extends the Department’s authority beyond its regulation of surface-water, to include the regulation of groundwater under the preferential use of water for human and stock-water during drought. This rule appears to be another attempt by the Department to use its rule making powers to extend its authority to regulate surface water under the Klamath River Adjudication, to include the regulation of groundwater."

(Klamath) Basin water allocation tightens, reservoirs drawn to their limits, H&N 8/6/14

BOR reduces Iron Gate Dam flows, H&N 7/3/14

On April 21, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) jointly released a new proposed rule – Definition of Waters of the U.S. Under the Clean Water Act – that would amend the definition of “waters of the U.S.” and expand the range of waters that fall under federal jurisdiction. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register, is open for public comment for 90 days, until July 21, 2014.

Senator Roberts and Western Caucus urge EPA to halt Waters of the US rule, 5/8/14

Why Willamette Valley farmers should watch Klamath Falls' water rights fight, Statesman Journal, posted to KBC 5/10/14. "The agency identified 130 wells (including Mallams) that could interfere with surface water sources, meaning he and other farmers could lose both sources of water this summer. 'You virtually cannot prove there isn’t interference because of the way they did the modeling,' Mallams said. 'I am considered guilty unless I prove myself innocent and I cannot prove myself innocent.' For Whitsett, that means the OWRD can do the same thing to any watershed in Oregon."

Zero acre-feet of water; East Side Klamath Project irrigators to see little or no water; idling funds also are in short supply, H&N 4/15/14. "Moxley said the newly designed pivots can reduce his irrigation water use up to 50 percent. But last week, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) announced that irrigators, who rely on water supplies from Clear Lake Reservoir, will get zero acre-feet for the 2014 irrigation season." KBC NOTE: When Klamath Reclamation Project was built, Clear Lake was a meadow. Suckers do not live in meadows. To create farmland, water was stored in Clear Lake (meadow) to so it could be used for irrigation if needed. The U.S. government made it into a bird refuge and decided to create habitat for suckers who historically did not live in this meadow, mandating lake levels and denying access in most of that area to the public.

Press Release: Klamath Project 2014 Operations Plan Released, Bureau of Reclamation  4/8/14
2014 Klamath Project Operations Plan 4/8/14

Klamath 2014 Emergency-Use Drought Permits Denied, posted to KBC 4/7/14

< Lucky Ackley
Klamath Basin farmers, ranchers face tough water year, CFBF Ag Alert, posted to KBC 2/26/14

Klamath Basin water outlook, recent rains just a drop in the bucket, H&N, posted to KBC 2/19/14.

Brandan Topham February Newsletter - OWRD to shut off surface and ground water to Upper Klamath ranches and farms, posted to KBC 2/23/14. "The State recently told us that they are going to shut off all of the surface water above Klamath Lake again this year....(OWRD) has decided that it will also shut off most of the wells above Klamath Lake."

Water Interference Bill, legislative update by Oregon Rep Gail Whitsett, posted to KBC 2/21/14. "....Over 130 Klamath Basin farmers and ranchers have been threatened by the OWRD to have their irrigation ground water wells shut down as soon as April 2014.  This is in addition to the same ranches having all of their surface water called on, and shut off, by the Klamath Tribes (as the newly adjudicated senior water right holder) and the OWRD in 2013. The adjudication provides absolutely no direct statutory control over ground water, but the OWRD is trying to tie the two water sources (ground and surface) together in an attempt to gain control over all of the ranch and farm lands (through their water) in certain areas of the Basin, without going through the process of defining a “Critical Groundwater Area”. OWRD does not want to go through this process as there really is not a shortage of ground water in this region..."

Governor plans $687 million for California drought, Capital Press 2/20/14

Drought Declared, Four Oregon counties to receive state relief, H&N 2/14/14.

* The Oregon Water Resources Department is no longer a friend of agriculture 8/1/13 by Senator Doug Whitsett: "More than 250 water users holding Allottee and Walton water rights dating to 1864 are being forced to turn off their irrigation water...The Department’s final determination gave the Tribes such a huge amount of water that virtually no additional water will be available for irrigation in a normal year..."

Crater Lake shutoff possible, H&N 6/30/13. "Any impacts to Crater Lake could be far-reaching economically. In 2011, visitors contributed $34.6 million to nearby communities, said Jeff Olson, National Park Service spokesman, and 549 area jobs were supported...Calls for water were made June 10 by the most senior water rights holders: Klamath Project farmers and the Klamath Tribes."

(Oregon U.S. Senator) Wyden calls for new basin-wide solution to Klamath water issues, Wyden Press Release 6/20/13.
Archived video of the 6/20/13 hearing, testimony and a full list of witnesses are available here.

Klamath Tribes: Support the KBRA in exchange for water talks, Capital Press 6/20/13. "The leader of the Klamath Tribes told a U.S. Senate committee June 20 that ranchers facing water shutoffs in the Upper Klamath Basin would have to agree to provisions of a three-year-old basin restoration agreement to negotiate more water from the tribes." KBC Note: Klamath Tribe is presently denying  irrigation water to off-Project Klamath irrigators supposedly for the sacred sucker fish. However, if the irrigators agree to supporting the KBRA (which destroys 4 hydro dams on the Klamath River, gifts land to the tribes that they previously sold to build a sovereign land base, destroys a fish hatchery producing millions of salmon, and downsizes agriculture), then the tribe will allow off Project irrigators to discuss terms to get their water back.

Water shutoffs to continue; Judge denies temporary stoppage on Klamath Basin adjudication enforcement, H&N 6/15/13. "If they cannot feed their livestock, ranchers will be forced to sell..."

Klamath Tribes and federal government put out historic call for water rights in drought-stricken Klamath Basin, Oregonian, posted to KBC 6/12/13. "The Klamath Tribes and the federal government called their water rights in southern Oregon's Klamath Basin for the first time Monday, likely cutting off irrigation water to hundreds of cattle ranchers and farmers in the upper basin this summer...Some 300 to 400 irrigators – and 70,000 to 100,000 cattle – could be impacted, upper basin water groups estimated. State officials said shut offs could begin as soon as Wednesday, and would be calibrated throughout the summer as river flows and weather dictate." KBC NOTE: Some quotes in above article are by KBRA supporter Becky Hyde, former board member of Sustainable Northwest.  SNW founder and president is Martin Goebel. Goebel was director of World Wildlife Fund, which is partner of United Nations Foundation with George Soros and Ford Foundation. Goebel is Trustee for Summit Charitable Foundation owned by Roger Sant. The company in a five year span granted Sustainable NW $342,875.  The funds come from Sant's company AES, worldwide developer of power in 29 countries, power "from coal to gas to renewables such as wind, hydro and biomass."  Hyde is at the closed-door KBRA negotiation table. The KBRA would destroy 4 hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River and fish hatchery producing millions of salmon, give land to the Klamath Tribes, put full support behind the Endangered Species Act, downsize agriculture by 25% or more, and give new water rights to bird refuges, along with planting endangered fish in warm shallow Klamath Lake and mandating their success.

* Klamath Project Biological Opinion by USFWS and NMFS, released 6/3/13.
MEMO to BOR from USFWS and NMFS regarding Klamath Project 2013 Biological Opinion posted to KBC 6/3/13.
PRESS RELEASE: Biological Opinion on Klamath Project Operations Delivered, USBR 6/3/13.
Feds OK new balance for Klamath water, Modesto Bee 6/3/12.

Drought, disputes put water at premium; uncertain supply, delayed opinion point to tough year, H&N 6/2/13.

Irrigators prepare for the worst, Delivery uncertainty: Klamath Project operating ‘without guidance,’ posted to KBC 5/14/13 Including legal actions, adjudication

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.

WATER 2025

Officials push for water regulation, The Idaho Statesman, posted 7/22/03 regarding Water 2025.  "John Keys, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency which supplies water to more than 30 million people in 17 Western states, said Idaho´s water bank is one of the innovative ways states can shift water from one use to another to meet new demands. A water bank is a brokerage service that allows farmers and others to lease their surplus water to others."The water market needs to be regulated, said former U.S. Sen. James McClure, so rich outside interests cannot overwhelm the social and economic structure of a community. “There is no question Idaho could look like Owens Valley if we allowed California to buy our water,” McClure said."

Water 2025: The Coming War on the Western Frontier, 7/11/03, The Sierra Times."On April 6, 2001, flawed science forced the federal shut off of over 100,000 acre-feet daily irrigation water to over 1400 farms in the Upper Klamath Basin south of Klamath Falls, Oregon ' to save the sucker fish and coho salmon'".

Water 2005 conference spawns feud with Yuroks, H&N July 11, 2003 AP.H&N July 11, 2003 AP. "But (Yurok tribe chairperson Susan) Masten said she's skeptical, and her tribe, with 90 percent poverty and 70 percent unemployment, is dependent on the river for its livelihood."  While accusing Klamath Project of ruining the livelihood of her tribe, she forgets to mention that last year's run of fish was the 3rd highest run, there were so many fish the take limit was raised, the price was lowered, and they had trouble selling them.  KBC

State Rips Norton on Water, July 10, 2003, The Sacramento Bee."We have grown to expect this sort of partisan whining from Mary, and that is the way it is," said (assistant Interior Secretary Bennett) Raley, a water lawyer from Colorado. "I find it humorous that, in her zeal to make this a partisan issue, Mary is blaming the Bush administration that the California delegation doesn't have a consensus." (State Resources Secretary Mary Nichols is the woman who blamed the Klamath Project for the dead Trinity-river fish 200 miles from Klamath Project which contributes 2% of the watershed.  This was before the water was tested, before any scientific studies were done, and before they even knew that these were not Klamath River fish. KBC)

Norton's surprising stance, by Stuart Leavenworth --The Sacramento Bee,  July 7, 2003 "Called Water 2025, Norton's water blueprint takes a few pages out of the environmentalist playbook: "It calls for more conservation of supplies, more banking of groundwater and more water trading between farms and cities, instead of new dams."

Water, growing demand, dwindling supply, by Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona Republic July 6, 2003

DOI Press Release June 4, 2003--Water 2025

Western water initiative aims to douse disputes, by Patrick O'Driscoll, USA TODAY.