Irrigation
water leaves Klamath Project cleaner, colder than it comes in
Felice Pace is once again making unsupported claims concerning Klamath Basin
water issues in his May 24 commentary in the Herald and News.
First, Pace claims that the Klamath Project’s run-off water is not clearer
and colder than water that comes out of Lake Ewauna.
When the statement was made that the water was cleaner and colder at the end
of the Klamath Project, the reference was to the water at the end of Tulelake
Irrigation District. At that point the water goes in to the Tulelake Wildlife
Refuge, then to the Lower Klamath Refuge, than passes through to the Klamath
River.
In 1995, a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided funding to
University of California, Davis and Intermountain Research and Extension
Center for an important local project: An Assessment of the Effects of
Agriculture on Water Quality in The Tulelake Region of California. This study
analyzed the effects of agriculture on water quality in the Klamath Basin.
Guess what? The study determined that the water was cleaner after leaving
agricultural lands than it had been in Upper Klamath Lake.
Naturally occurring phosphate in Upper Klamath Lake (meaning not from any
agricultural source) is high. After the water is used and recirculated in the
Klamath Project there is less phosphate loading in the run-off water than in
Klamath Lake water because crops use phosphate for growth.
Additionally, an intensive monitoring effort conducted cooperatively by the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Geological
Survey determined that no pesticides in current use have been detected in
amounts of toxicological significance in waters in the Tulelake Irrigation
District or in the Tulelake Wildlife Refuge. That also holds true for
fertilizer residue.
Effective efficiency 93 percent
According to a study conducted by Davids
Engineering (“Klamath Project Historical Water Use Analysis”) in 1998, the
effective efficiency for the overall Project is 93 percent, making the Klamath
Project one of the most efficient in the country. Basically this means that
only 7 percent of the Project water is not utilized in a beneficial way for
crops.
That unusually high rating is possible due in part to a complex drainage
system and recycling of water. It is interesting that Felice Pace claims that
the drains and tile drains should not be there. When a farmer irrigates his
crops, the extra water the plant does not need percolates through the soil,
hits a hard pan and goes to a drain ditch. Another farmer uses that extra
water farther down the ditch. This bonus water will be reused seven to nine
times in the Klamath Project. It is ludicrous for Pace to assert that there
should not be any drains. In his scenario, two things would happen. The highly
regarded efficiency evaluation would drop significantly, and there would be
less water in the Klamath River.
Contrary to Pace’s allegations — the Klamath Project does not have a
pollution problem. Water quality issues occur outside the Project boundaries.
If the water at Klamath Straits prior to entering the Klamath River has higher
nutrient loading and warmer temperatures then perhaps one should investigate
what is happening between Tulelake Irrigation District borders and Straits
Drain.
First, the run-off water from the Klamath Project goes into 10,500 acres of
shallow open water (permanent wet land) and 2,500 acres of hardstem bulrush
and cattail marsh — Tulelake Wildlife Refuge. Then the water moves on to
Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge consisting of 11,201 acres of permanent wetlands
and 10,023 acres of seasonal marshes.
The run-off from these two refuges goes through Straits Drain to Klamath
River. It only takes common sense to recognize why the water is hotter after
languishing in thousands of acres of shallow wetlands and seasonal marshes
while decaying tules and abundant waterfowl feces significantly increase the
nutrient load. Is this a bad thing? The answer is yes — and no. Of course
one wishes the water at Straits Drain was cooler and less loaded with
nutrients. But undoubtedly, the benefits of the wildlife refuges far outweigh
the negatives.
However, Pace asserts that if Project farmers would build more marshes, all
the water would be cleaner and colder. If that were true, then the water in
Straits Drain following its path through the 34,224 acres of refuges would be
nearly pristine. Unfortunately, that is not the case. As proven by the UC
Davis study, the water quality is better at the tail end of the Klamath
Project before it enters the wetlands.
Visit, take a look
I invite Pace to come on a personal tour of the
Klamath Project.
We have taken hundreds of interested parties on tours to give them a first
hand look at the value of the Project and the dozens of completed tasks which
are making true progress in improving the Klamath Basin portion of the vast
Klamath River system.
All who visit come away with increased knowledge and new perspectives. We have
nothing to hide and everything to gain by educating the public.
It is apparent that Pace will continue to spread misinformation to the general
public in order to stir discontent and generate funding to pay his wages. If
he doesn’t have a cause (real or imagined) to fight, he won’t have a job.
It is distressing that donated funds aren’t spent to help improve the
Klamath River System instead of paying Pace’s wages and lawyer fees.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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