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New water group offers update on talks
By
BECKY HYDE
Guest Writer
The Upper Klamath Water Users
Association appreciates the opportunity to
update and explain again the solutions we are
working on focused around a water settlement,
affordable power for irrigation and regulatory
assurances for ranchers and farmers in the
off-Project area (outside of the Klamath
Reclamation Project).
On the water supply front, we continue to work and negotiate with the Klamath Tribes to carve out water security for our irrigation community. We are in the drafting phase. The off-Project has also been in protracted and expensive litigation over water with our neighbors in the farming community within the Klamath Reclamation Project. We are having productive conversations with the Klamath Project irrigators with the intent of putting in place solutions that make it unnecessary for the litigation that has divided our agricultural community for far too long.
We are working within the settlement and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement to secure affordable power for irrigators in the off project area. We’ve engaged the newly formed Klamath Water and Power Authority board in an effort to design ways for off-pProject irrigators to participate with it through a contractual agreement. Effort will need to be applied to create an agreement, and time will be needed to shepherd the restoration agreement, which includes the power program for both on- and off-Project irrigators through Congress.
We’re in conversations with regulatory agencies to work through the regulatory compliance issues that face us. Other agricultural communities have crafted successful strategies for dealing with compliance issues, and we believe similar programs can be shaped here and tailored to the off-Project area as a whole.
Formed in 2008
Upper Klamath Water Users formed in November of 2008, because we did not believe a settlement alternative was being achieved for the off-Project area at the settlement table. We did not have a seat at the settlement table, but were admitted to the group a couple of weeks ago.
In contrast, the Klamath Off Project Water Users Association has had a seat at the settlement table for several years. It has been unable to achieve traction, at least at this time, around settlement results or alternatives for the off-Project community.
Litigation continues to be the only strategy that both the Resource Conservancy and the Klamath Off Project Water Users Association are using. It is our assessment that litigation against the Klamath Tribes, and the Klamath Project irrigators, as well as against Pacific Power for a power rate that we once had, are strategies that carry significant risk, cost, and uncertainty for the off-Project area, especially with no meaningful effort focused on settlement alternatives.
We believe that ranchers and farmers in the off-Project area should and do retain the ability to think independently about what is best for their operations given the complex environment we are living in.
If litigation and the multi-million dollar price tag needed to pursue that route on several fronts at once appear to be the wisest approach for folks to take, individuals certainly retain that right — which opportunity clearly remains as an alternative with both Resource Conservancy and Klamath Off Project Water Users Association.
Building solutions
Our organization is young, yet we are building solutions for a more stable future. We believe that farmers and ranchers represent themselves, and their own private property rights and decisions.
We respect the fact that landowners are coming at these issues with a variety of viewpoints, and recognize that many landowners are thinking about what they need to do to successfully position themselves for the future. Our board looks forward to continuing to work on these tough issues with our members.
By joining the Klamath Settlement Group we are able to provide information and transparency to our members with respect to these confidential agreements. This is important because we believe that when the restoration agreement was released, only a handful of landowners in the off-Project area had seen the actual settlement agreement. This was in contrast to well over a hundred project irrigators, associated with district boards and covered by confidentiality agreements, having reviewed the document over time and providing guidance to their negotiators along the way.
We appreciate the ranchers and farmers who have joined our board and young organization. We plan to continue to build solutions so that private landowners can have choices about how to deal with their future. Our primary purpose is and will remain to make agricultural production a viable opportunity in the Upper Basin.
Becky Hyde is a long-time Klamath Basin rancher who has been active in water matters.
On the water supply front, we continue to work and negotiate with the Klamath Tribes to carve out water security for our irrigation community. We are in the drafting phase. The off-Project has also been in protracted and expensive litigation over water with our neighbors in the farming community within the Klamath Reclamation Project. We are having productive conversations with the Klamath Project irrigators with the intent of putting in place solutions that make it unnecessary for the litigation that has divided our agricultural community for far too long.
We are working within the settlement and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement to secure affordable power for irrigators in the off project area. We’ve engaged the newly formed Klamath Water and Power Authority board in an effort to design ways for off-pProject irrigators to participate with it through a contractual agreement. Effort will need to be applied to create an agreement, and time will be needed to shepherd the restoration agreement, which includes the power program for both on- and off-Project irrigators through Congress.
We’re in conversations with regulatory agencies to work through the regulatory compliance issues that face us. Other agricultural communities have crafted successful strategies for dealing with compliance issues, and we believe similar programs can be shaped here and tailored to the off-Project area as a whole.
Upper Klamath Water Users formed in November of 2008, because we did not believe a settlement alternative was being achieved for the off-Project area at the settlement table. We did not have a seat at the settlement table, but were admitted to the group a couple of weeks ago.
In contrast, the Klamath Off Project Water Users Association has had a seat at the settlement table for several years. It has been unable to achieve traction, at least at this time, around settlement results or alternatives for the off-Project community.
Litigation continues to be the only strategy that both the Resource Conservancy and the Klamath Off Project Water Users Association are using. It is our assessment that litigation against the Klamath Tribes, and the Klamath Project irrigators, as well as against Pacific Power for a power rate that we once had, are strategies that carry significant risk, cost, and uncertainty for the off-Project area, especially with no meaningful effort focused on settlement alternatives.
We believe that ranchers and farmers in the off-Project area should and do retain the ability to think independently about what is best for their operations given the complex environment we are living in.
If litigation and the multi-million dollar price tag needed to pursue that route on several fronts at once appear to be the wisest approach for folks to take, individuals certainly retain that right — which opportunity clearly remains as an alternative with both Resource Conservancy and Klamath Off Project Water Users Association.
Building solutions
Our organization is young, yet we are building solutions for a more stable future. We believe that farmers and ranchers represent themselves, and their own private property rights and decisions.
We respect the fact that landowners are coming at these issues with a variety of viewpoints, and recognize that many landowners are thinking about what they need to do to successfully position themselves for the future. Our board looks forward to continuing to work on these tough issues with our members.
By joining the Klamath Settlement Group we are able to provide information and transparency to our members with respect to these confidential agreements. This is important because we believe that when the restoration agreement was released, only a handful of landowners in the off-Project area had seen the actual settlement agreement. This was in contrast to well over a hundred project irrigators, associated with district boards and covered by confidentiality agreements, having reviewed the document over time and providing guidance to their negotiators along the way.
We appreciate the ranchers and farmers who have joined our board and young organization. We plan to continue to build solutions so that private landowners can have choices about how to deal with their future. Our primary purpose is and will remain to make agricultural production a viable opportunity in the Upper Basin.
Becky Hyde is a long-time Klamath Basin rancher who has been active in water matters.
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