Educational Solutions: Comprehensive List of Solutions to Klamath Basin Water Issues

Klamath Basin Solutions

January 11, 2007

Prepared by Educational Solutions

www.educationalsolutions.org

INTRODUCTION – THE EDUCATIONAL SOLUTIONS LIST OF SOLUTIONS TO KLAMATH RIVER BASIN WATER ISSUES

The goal of Educational Solutions (ES), a Klamath Falls nonprofit, is to present a forum for informed, fair civil discussion about Klamath River Basin Water Issues, by Basin youth and the community at large.

We who live in the Klamath River Basin recognize it as a place of unsurpassed natural beauty as the Klamath River runs from snowy peaks in Southern Oregon to its Pacific Ocean mouth in California . We have no large cities or traffic snarls. We are a chain of unique rural communities dependent upon the Klamath River : sovereign Native American tribes, family farms and ranches, as well as fishing communities along the river and the ocean coast.

As currently managed, there is not enough water in the Klamath River Basin to sustain the demands of all the stakeholder groups. During the drought of Summer 2001, the federal government shut off irrigation to 1,200 Upper Basin farmers to protect three species of fish listed as threatened/endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 2002, well over 35,000 adult salmon (mostly Chinook) died in the Lower Klamath River , threatening a major food source of Native American tribes and interfering with tribal tradition. In 2006, because of low predicted Chinook salmon returns to the Klamath River , commercial and recreational salmon fishing was closed, impacting the livelihood of fishing communities along more than 700 miles of the Pacific Coast . All three groups feel their survival is threatened. Agriculture and fish compete for limited water resources. Other Basin groups are also concerned about water quantity and quality, including recreational fishing.

ES honors the courage of the Basin stakeholder leaders over the past six years. They have spent hours and hours of discussion working toward equitable solutions. Real progress has been made as more and more leaders have come to recognize that Basin-wide solutions are necessary if we are to sustain individual communities. However, the general public and Basin youth need to understand the issues, the possible solutions, and the progress to date. ES wants to inspire Basin youth to participate in implementing solutions to poor water quality, insufficient water quantity and related problems.

Over the last three years, Educational Solutions has worked with Klamath Basin stakeholder leaders and Basin school districts to develop a high school dialogue project, “Sharing the Klamath Watershed: Bringing Together the Next Generation of Stakeholders.” (See http://www.educationalsolutions.org/public/content/view/40/84 for details of project.)

ES is committed to presenting the constructive ideas of all the major stakeholder groups. To further this goal, ES surveyed stakeholder representatives for solutions to the water problems in the Klamath Basin . Based on interviews with Native Americans, farmers, ranchers, fishermen, representatives of government agencies and local governments as well as relevant publications, ES developed and categorized a preliminary list of solutions. The business women of Soroptimist International of Klamath Falls were the first to review our list and suggest additions. In November 2006, the revised list was presented to attendees at the Klamath Watershed Conference in Redding , California . Some 47 individuals from different Basin communities identified those solutions they found of interest and suggested additional solutions. ES held further discussions with stakeholders at the conference and afterwards, incorporating the new information into the list below.

ES gathered and categorized this list of solutions for use in the curriculum of the high school dialogue project and for use by the Basin community. Before releasing this list to the public for Internet discussion on the ES Website and incorporating it into the high school project, we are distributing it for further stakeholder consideration. Please note there is some repetition as the same solutions can solve different problems. We would be grateful if you would read the solutions and email your comments to judith.jensen@educationalsolutions.org.

The categories are as follows:

1. Increase Water Quantity in the Klamath River Basin

2. Improve Water Quality in the Klamath River Basin

3. Improve Fish Habitat and Increase Fish Numbers

4. Understand Competing Claims of Different Stakeholder Groups

5. Resolve Competing Claims

6. Improve Stakeholder Relations

7. Manage for Drought

8. Understand Climate Change and Global Factors

9. Sustain Threatened Rural Communities

1. INCREASE WATER QUANTITY

Although we cannot “produce” more water for the Klamath Basin , it is possible to devise ways to make more water available to Klamath River Basin stakeholders.

Plan to take advantage of wet years in predicted extreme climate changes by storing water from one year to the next.
Compile an inclusive list of all possible water storage locations, historic and present.
Establish deep, cool water storage, for example, the Long Lake Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) project (and understand possible unintended consequences).
Dredge Upper Klamath Lake for deep water storage (and understand possible unintended consequences).
Construct small, strategically placed dams, with fish passage, in tributaries.
Develop restoration projects in tributaries so that land retains more water and releases it slowly.
Manage wetlands for storage (e.g. Agency Lake Ranch managed by BOR).
Manage wetlands for storage (investigate Wood River managed by Bureau of Land Management (BLM)).
Collect data in order to understand wetlands evapotranspiration (ET) rates for storage efficiency.
Conduct studies in order to understand Basin hydrology, particularly the interrelationship among uplands, surface water, and ground water (particular issues of concern: well/water table disputes among citizens, developers’ impacts over the next ten years).
Define and implement measures to improve agricultural irrigation efficiency (tail water, water metering, sprinklers).
Identify and consider: agricultural crops that use less water.
Retire some farmland to decrease irrigation water used.
Understand farmers’ constraints ( Upper Basin ’s short growing season requires crops that use water to grow fast; farmers compete in global market; minimum amount of water needed to make complex Klamath Irrigation Project work).
Improve forest management practices to remove excess biomass, using thinning and controlled burning to prevent brush from capturing too much water or becoming fuel for major wildfires, while at the same time sustaining habitat for wildlife.
Retain more water in the Trinity River from Westlands diversion.
Widely disseminate conservation solutions and problem-solving processes.

2. IMPROVE WATER QUALITY

Indicators of poor water quality are as follows: low oxygen content; high levels of sediment, nutrients (such as phosphorus or nitrogen), algae, and/or harmful micro-organisms; and high temperature. Poor water quality is a stressor for fish and reduces chances of survival. Efforts to improve water quality in the Basin take the commitment and coordinated effort of all stakeholders. (Please note that many restoration efforts to improve water quality also improve fish habitat, the category which follows this one.)

Restore stream quality, stream banks, springs, and wetlands.
Educate the Basin public on the many restoration projects already implemented in Basin by different stakeholder groups (Resource Conservation Districts, Watershed Councils, Tribes, Klamath Basin Ecosystem Foundation, (KBEF) etc.).
Thoroughly understand the effects of wetlands on water quality.
Manage wetlands for water quality, for example, the Williamson River Delta Preserve - Tulana Farms/Goose Bay Farms operated by The Nature Conservancy, Agency Lake (BOR), and Wood River Ranch (BLM).
Develop more wetlands to purify water.
Advance research on the natural levels of nutrients (especially phosphorus) in Upper Klamath Lake which contribute to algae growth and distinguish how much is actually due to farm/ranch runoff.
Reduce or eliminate nutrient-rich runoff from farms/ranches.
Manage grazing to protect river banks.
Include and improve efforts by the Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust.
Increase awareness of the best use of seasonal availability of riparian forage for livestock.
Establish Basin-wide water monitoring program for oxygen, sediment, pesticides, nutrients, algae, and temperature to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration projects and to identify problem areas as they arise.
Use water purity standards to regulate river water quality (Total Maximum Daily Load -TMDL).
Increase quality of water released from Klamath Project.
Reduce and monitor pesticide loading.
Increase organic farming.
Remedy and reduce sediment erosion on federal and state roads and from logging operations, and other ground-disturbing activities (US Forest Service, BLM, county, state, private timber companies).
Establish landscape level fire-management practices to restore ecosystem function.
Investigate the impacts of dam removal on water quality.

3. IMPROVE FISH HABITAT AND INCREASE FISH NUMBERS

The improvement of water quality will naturally improve fish habitat and increase fish numbers. There are additional solutions that will increase fish numbers.

Integrate local fish recovery teams with farmers and ranchers and other interested parties (e.g. the Shasta/Scott Coho Recovery Team).
Manage wetlands for fish habitat (e.g. the Sycan Marsh and the Williamson River Delta Preserve, operated by The Nature Conservancy).
Remove Chiloquin Dam to increase sucker access to habitat.
Remove the four main-stem dams ( Iron Gate , Copco I and II, and John C. Boyle dams) to allow fish access to some 185+ miles of habitat.
Install fish ladders at main-stem dams.
Truck salmon around dams.
Fence riparian zones in grazing lands.
Establish minimum stream flows to protect/maintain fish runs and provide enough fish for tribal, recreational and commercial fisheries.
Re-establish riparian vegetation to increase viability of thermal refugia (cooler habitat).
Restore streams to improve habitat (sinuosity, variety of depths).
Augment gravel bars in tributaries and main-stem Klamath River for spawning areas.
Use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to map habitat.
Understand hatchery impacts on wild fish stocks, the selective pressures they put on species, and the spread of disease.
Change current hatchery management to include many small “step” hatcheries in tributaries and reduce the number of giant hatcheries.
Analyze benefits and risks of using hatchery stock to seed hatcheries.
Use wild stock to seed hatcheries.
Update fish sampling by ocean fishermen to get real-time data to determine salmon’s river of origin, allowing fishermen to move on to another location if they sample weak stock (COOS program).

4. UNDERSTAND COMPETING CLAIMS OF DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDER GROUPS

To understand competing claims it is necessary to know who has a stake in the outcomes of the proposed processes. The following are the groups of people who are interested in viable outcomes. The first nine have legal claims defined at different times in Basin history.

Legal Claims

Native American Governments.
Farmers and Ranchers ( Upper Basin : Klamath Project irrigators and Off-Project irrigators; Mid Basin: Shasta and Scott irrigators).
Fishermen (commercial and sport, coastal communities, guides, lodge-owners, etc.).
Hydro-electric plants – PacifiCorp.
Government Agencies (California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), USFS, BLM, BOR, etc.).
Wildlife/Waterfowl Refuges.
Environmentalists.

Serious Interest

Farm workers.
General stakeholders: community members, businesses, developers, retirees and new residents.
Recreationists: birders, hunters, hikers, users of rivers and lakes, eco-tourists.
City, county, state and federal representatives, legislators and planners.
Loggers.
Recreational placer miners.
Homeowners potentially impacted by dam removal.

5. RESOLVE COMPETING CLAIMS

There is a wide variety of legal processes and agencies that regulate stakeholder’s claims. However, claims often are contradictory and agency missions can also be contradictory.

Finalize Oregon Water Resources Department’s (OWRD) court adjudication of claims by the following:

1) The U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service;

2) The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Klamath Tribes;

3) The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Klamath Project;

4) Remaining claims of farmers and ranchers on the Sprague and Williamson Rivers .

Recognize that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) may override already-adjudicated farmers’ and ranchers’ water rights (California Shasta and Scott Rivers).
Revise the ESA to protect farmers’ and ranchers’ water and private property rights.
Revise the ESA to protect Upper Basin farmer’s from risks of reintroducing threatened/endangered species to the Upper Klamath Basin by main-stem dam removal.
Integrate TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Loads) concept and related processes throughout Basin.
Use the Water Bank, Water Trust, and the Water Master processes.
Regulate, rather than eliminate, sport and commercial fishing.
Simplify and coordinate California/Oregon water quality standards and estuary/ocean fishing regulations (the California Water Quality Control Board, the California State Lands Board, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Water Quality Control Board, as well as the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operating in conjunction with the US Department of Commerce).

6. IMPROVE STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS

Improving stakeholder relations requires courage, commitment, time and patience. Stakeholder leaders and groups have been meeting together to solve the Basin water problems and they are making significant progress.

Find out whether the Endangered Species Act was implemented more harshly in 2001 in the Klamath Basin than in other comparable areas due to lack of sufficient infrastructure for stakeholder collaboration.
Rate stakeholder organizations and discussions on history and success.
Understand the scope and goals of the Klamath River Compact Commission (Oregon, California, BOR – 1957).
Understand the scope and goals of the following organizations who are collaborating to restore the Upper Basin: Hatfield Upper Klamath Basin Working Group (1996); Hatfield Science Team (scientists selected by different stakeholder groups); the Klamath Watershed Council (2005); Natural Resources Advisory Council (2006); the Klamath Management Council; the Klamath Task Force, etc.).
Understand the scope, goals and processes of the Stakeholder/PacifiCorp discussions about the dam re-licensing by FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) of the Klamath main-stem dams (2006).
Understand discussions among stakeholder groups about FERC re-licensing of the Klamath main-stem dams (2006).
Understand the scope and goals of the Conservation Implementation Plan (CIP) developed by the BOR (2006).
Formulate a Joint TMDL process for regulation of water quality for the entire Klamath River and its tributaries.
Involve the Klamath Watershed Institute and Humboldt State UniversitySteinberg Natural Resource Plan.
Form a new fishermen-led stakeholder alliance.
Coordinate inter-agency policy and improve the relationships of agencies with stakeholders.
Establish collaborative decision making (stakeholders and agencies) for resource management.
Form a Basin Congress and develop detailed plans for how stakeholder groups and government agencies can work together effectively.

7. MANAGE FOR DROUGHT

Management for drought, in both wet and dry years, is a farsighted concept that requires successful cooperation by all of the stakeholders and relevant local, state, and federal agencies and governments.

Institute a Basin Congress (the 2006 Redding Watershed Conference may be a prelude) to develop collaborative proposals to restore the ecosystem while also sustaining local economies, and protect fish as well as agriculture in times of drought.
Stakeholders (who use and manage resources) and government agencies (who manage funding, science, and many of the resources) need to develop methods to work together specifically for the good of the Basin.
Investigate models for stakeholder/agency/local government decision making.
Institute an extensive monitoring program for water quantity, water quality and fish numbers to provide basis for adaptive management in wet and dry years.
Educate Basin decision makers about risks to snow pack from predicted extreme climate changes.
Educate Basin decision makers on need to develop flow timing program to protect farms and fish during peak summer demands.
Educate Basin decision makers on different forms of water banking, the need for water metering and the need to control profiteering when buying and selling water.
Use the Water Bank to allow buying and selling of water according to crop profitability.
Consider “Programmatic Incidental Take Permit Process” in cooperation with Resource Conservation Districts.
Build on adjudication results to develop plans for buying/selling water in times of drought.
Use drought insurance programs and other economic mechanisms to mitigate drought effects.

8. UNDERSTAND CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL TRENDS

Global factors have serious implications for the environment and stakeholders in the Basin. Information about these predicted potential effects needs to be accurately collected, widely disseminated, and integrated into stakeholders’ planning processes.

Understand/analyze the potential effects of predicted increasingly warm temperatures and extreme fluctuations of weather patterns on the Klamath Basin .
Understand/analyze possible long-term changes in rainfall patterns of Klamath Basin .
Understand/analyze the possible effects of climate change on snow pack and river flows.
Understand/analyze the possible impacts of climate change on ocean conditions, fish migration patterns, etc.
Understand/analyze the relationships of ocean dead zones (hypoxic zones) and fishery collapse to river conditions and events on land.
Publicize and analyze the November 2006 Science report on global fishing problems worldwide.
Educate Basin on World Bank and other international organizations’ water management and fishing policies.
Understand and analyze the effects of predicted population growth and increased pressure on natural resources on the quality of life in Basin rural areas.
Understand and analyze the effects of predicted increased urbanization of rural areas.

9. SUSTAIN THREATENED RURAL COMMUNITIES

The purpose of all collaborative efforts is to achieve sustainability stakeholder communities as well as the ecosystem.

Improve water conservation on all fronts.
Develop local alternative energy projects and resources for Klamath Project farmers, as well as for all stakeholders, to provide low cost energy.
Address farmer and farm worker health and safety issues related to the use of pesticides.
Identify niche/organic markets for Basin farm products.
Develop name-recognition for quality Basin farm products and practices.
Address social inequity issues.
Revive sport fishing economy on Klamath River .
Develop Basin-wide ecotourism: birding, hiking, rafting, hunting, fishing programs.
Develop and coordinate a Basin-wide series of tourist-attracting festivals.
Develop a coordinated marketing plan to improve and diversify the economy of the Basin.
Attract culturally-appropriate, clean, light industry and clean, high tech companies to this region.
Implement sustained-yield timber harvest program for Mid-Basin local economies.
Require regulatory agencies to provide technical and financial incentive to support changing management practices in a way that farmers/ranchers can survive economically.
Require federal agencies, which analyze their decisions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to improve the accuracy of their required analyses of social and economic impacts to avoid negative effects on rural economies.
Develop high school program(s) about potential employment and business development in rural economies.
Increase scholarships for Basin students to develop careers related to farms, fish, and changing climate conditions.
Use Upper Klamath Lake algae to develop useful and saleable products.
Use Upper Klamath Lake algae as source for alternative fuels.
Develop program for tribes to manage dams and step hatcheries in tributaries.
Develop plan for Klamath Basin to become learning center for effective management of watersheds.