Pablo Arroyave: A golden opportunity

By DD BIXBY

H&N Staff Writer 

March 14, 2008

Pablo Arroyave, area manager of the Bureau of Reclamation in Klamath Falls , described his role in negotiations and discussions as educational, offering technical assistance and information on BOR operations.

   In 2001, Pablo Arroyave was several thousand miles away from the Klamath water crisis. But his Washington , D.C. , job at the Bureau of Reclamation’s commissioner office made him familiar with the struggles. 

   And before taking over as area manager at Klamath’s BOR office in 2007, Arroyave spent four years at the Carson office in Nevada , an area with a water situation similar to the Klamath Basin ’s. 

   While delivery of water is the No. 1 priority, Arroyave says, the Tribal Trust claims and Environmental Species Act requirements also figure into the BOR’s calculation of how much water can be delivered. 

   Dealing with demand 

   In dry years, demand for water is high from all corners, and that puts Arroyave and the BOR in a three-way crossfire. 

   Relationships with irrigators, the Klamath, Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa tribes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which makes decisions for ESA requirements) are productive, Arroyave says. Those communities look to the BOR to help solve water issues. So Arroyave’s office was in the thick of things during the past two years’ negotiations for the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement. 

   Without legislation, the bureau cannot act, but Arroyave says he is very supportive of the process used by the 26 stakeholders and of a lot that’s in the agreement. 

   Involved in talks 

   Arroyave described his role in negotiations and discussions as educational, offering technical assistance on hydrology and precise information on BOR operations. 

   With control of headgates, the BOR would be one of the most involved agencies in implementing the agreement, Arroyave says. Without legislation, it’s too early to tell to what degree that involvement would be. 

   Arroyave says an ideal outcome would be that the proposal be agreed on and finalized, giving legislation a fighting chance of passage and implementation. 

   “Everybody gave something up and everybody got something,” Arroyave says. “There are a lot of people who are comfortable with the status quo. There are folks who don’t want to open up their minds and think about it. 

   “I think this is a golden opportunity that we don’t want to miss.”

Side Bars

Pablo Arroyave on the agreement:

   What he likes: The Bureau of Reclamation hasn’t taken a position on the agreement, but Arroyave says he was supportive of the process and likes a lot in the agreement. 

   Currently, water delivery is based on availability, and the BOR tries to meet all demands. Allocations set in the agreement outline water delivery more clearly. 

   There also is continuation of research into offstream storage, expected to be complete in 2011. 

   In addition, the agreement proposes to evaluate the purpose of the project, which could include allocations to refuges. Arroyave says the Klamath Project has one of the most limited scopes in the U.S. bureau. 

   His concern: “It’s really a package deal,” Arroyave says, when asked if he found any negative aspects of the settlement. “You can’t really look at every piece, ‘yes-no, yes-no.’ ”

Bureau of Reclamation details:

   n More than 1,400 miles of canals, drainage ditches, tunnels and laterals, three storage dams, four diversion dams and 28 pumping plants are under BOR management. 

   n The A Canal headgates open every April 15. 

   n The BOR regulates the distribution of water and curtails it when biological opinion decides lake levels are too low. 

   n About 200 contractors get water from the BOR Klamath Project. The Klamath Irrigation District, Klamath Drainage District and Tulelake Irrigation District are the biggest customers. The Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges also are water users, subject to the same water uncertainties as other users. 

   n Depending on the year, the BOR delivers between 280,000 and 500,000 acre-feet of water in the Klamath Project.

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