|
Become a friend of the Klamath Bucket Brigade All donations are tax deductible |
|
This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
GovTrack.us is an independent tool to help the public research and track the activities in the U.S. Congress, promoting government transparency and civic education through novel uses of technology.
Tom Mallams
Once again the corrupt
process overpowers logic, common sense
and equitable participation. A small
non-representative group being added to
the Klamath Settlement Group is another
example of how corrupt the dam removal
and Klamath Basin Restoration Group
process continues to be.
Upper Klamath Water Users Association
was added in the so-called
consensus-driven meeting even with the
opposition of at least three of the
groups. Their addition to the main group
is just another "rubber stamp" of the
federal government, tribal and
environmentalist-driven group.
I guess consensus doesn't always mean
consensus in this flawed process. It is
like being sort of pregnant - you are or
you are not. You can't have it both
ways.
We have been promised that this process
would always be a consensus-driven
group. At the same time "another" formal
request was made to add one or two truly
representative irrigation groups in the
upper basin. The Sprague River Water
Users and/or Resource Conservancy, which
represents a very substantial group of
irrigators comprising approximately
125,000 irrigated acres. This request
was turned down again and instead the
small group representing approximately
2,000 irrigated acres was added to the
group.
The obvious intention is to exclude any
group that is not in complete agreement,
to force the public, without due
process, into dam removal, a tribal land
gift and the so-called "promise" of
water guarantee for the Klamath Project,
under the guise of "saving the river."
There is still no credible science that
states dam removal will even help the
river or support fish survival if the
dams are removed. There is equal logic
that concludes that dam removal would
actually worsen conditions with no
sustained late-season flows. Actual dam
removal costs are shown by two federal
government studies to be in the billions
of dollars. Fish ladders and structure
upgrades certainly seem to be the best
option at a cost estimated to be
approximately $350 million.
We are still committed to a basin-wide
settlement, but it has to be equitable
and it is not even close to that as it
is written today. This is evidenced by
more participants in the Klamath
Settlement Group formally dropping out
of further talks, because of similar
concerns we have been raising.
Our numerous attempts to introduce
beneficial amendments in the Klamath
Basin Restoration Agreement to address
Off-Project Water Users' concerns is
being portrayed as a roadblock by some.
We are still trying to work with the
settlement process, in spite of
continually being excluded and ignored
in our requests for changes in the
agreement.
Tom Mallams, President, Klamath
Off-Project Water Users Association,
Beatty, Ore.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without
profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in
receiving this information for
non-profit
research and educational purposes only.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml