March 9, 2010

   Along with selected testimony, the governor is expected to meet with heads of local federal agency offices to determine what can be done to ease the impact of a drought to the region’s agricultural community.

   “I don’t think he’s going to get lectured, he’s just going to hear concerns,” said Greg Addington, executive director of Klamath Water Users Association.       

   Government and irrigation officials have already said it will be impossible to meet the full demand for irrigation and maintain mandated Klamath River f lows for endangered fish species.

   Upper Klamath Lake, the primary water source for the Klamath Reclamation Project, is at its lowest level on record for this time of year. Precipitation and inflows into the lake also are below average.

   Stakeholders recently signed the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, a document that aims to resolve water disputes among irrigators, conservationists, fisheries and tribes. The ongoing issue came to a head in 2001 when irrigation water was shut off to the Klamath Project to protect endangered fish.  

   The agreement won’t be implemented for several years and needs Congressional funding and legislation.

   Today’s meeting with the governor is open to the public, but the number of attendees will be limited to capacity restraints of the commissioners’ hearing room. Only those invited to speak to the governor will be allowed to do so.

   It wasn’t known late Monday afternoon who would be speaking. Addington was working Monday to find irrigators, managers of irrigation districts and agriculture-related business owners to offer testimony.

   He said there is a lot of angst and frustration, but it wasn’t directed at the state. People are appreciative of Kulongoski’s response, Addington said, adding that he’s doing better than his predecessor, John Kitzhaber, did during the 2001 water crisis.  

   State Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, said he would attend the hearing today and would testify if called on to do so. He said he applauded the governor’s efforts and said it could help get federal attention to the issue. But, Garrard noted, time is of the essence, since April 1 is the typical start to the irrigation season.

   “We need to have some things really in the pipeline by that point,” the state lawmaker said.