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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Klamath
Basin Restoration Agreement
Settlement
addresses three main goals
Steve
Kadel and Ty Beaver
Representatives of 26 organizations met for more than two years to reach
consensus on the water settlement. Those stakeholders include county,
state and federal governments; tribes; irrigators; environmentalists;
and fishing interests.
Stakeholders assigned the goals of the agreement into three
headings:
n
n Reliable water and power supplies will be
established to sustain agriculture, communities and national wildlife
refuges.
n The public welfare and sustainability of all
The agreement itself would be in effect for 50 years
before coming up for renewal, though some water provisions would be
permanent.
Fisheries
The agreement calls for reintroduction of migratory
fish species above Iron Gate Dam, located in
The goal is to sustain fisheries and harvest
opportunities, as well as ensuring overall ecosystem health, with
removal of the lower four dams on the
The Fisheries Program would use collaboration,
incentives and adaptive management as preferred approaches. A balance
should be struck between properly functioning lakes and rivers along
with the economic stability of adjacent landowners. Habitat restoration
will be monitored to get the greatest return on investments.
The reintroduction program will be focused in the
The
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would recommend a reintroduction
policy to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission by May 2008. The plan
is intended to establish self-sustaining, naturally produced populations
of Chinook, steelhead, coho and lamprey that were historically present
in the
Phase one of the reintroduction plan calls for
restoration and permanent protection of riparian vegetation, restoring
stream channels, solving fish passage problems and preventing entrapment
in water diversions. Phase one will continue for 10 years.
Phase two of the reintroduction would look at long
term strategies, based on the success of previous efforts.
Additional
water for fish
The agreement calls for improved in-stream flows while
maintaining the elevation of
A limit would be established on the amount of water
diverted from
In
the driest years, reduction of irrigation water would be up to 100,000
acre feet from historic levels. More irrigation water would be available
in wetter years.
The agreement calls for a voluntary water rights
retirement program for the Wood, Sprague, Sycan and Williamson rivers to
gain 30,000 acre feet of water for additional in-flow to
Completion of breaching of levees in the Williamson
River Delta would add about 28,800 acre feet of water to the lake.
Reconnecting Barnes Ranch and Agency Lake Ranch to Agency Lake would add
another 63,700 acre feet of storage, and reconnecting Wood River
Wetlands to Agency Lake would add another 16,000 acre feet of storage.
Extra water generated by the programs would stay in
the lake or
Additional
water for wildlife refuges
Fish managers would develop a monitoring plan to
determine the status and trends of fish populations and habitats.
Factors limiting the restoration of fish populations would be evaluated,
and fish managers would prepare annual reports on activities.
Drought plan
and climate change
The federal,
This plan would outline increasingly intensive water
management for water needs in drought years and in cases of an extreme
drought. The plan would seek to avoid or minimize adverse impacts to
communities and resources under various dry conditions.
Participants also would determine how long-term
climate change would affect communities and fisheries of the
Sustainable
communities
The agreement calls for permanently limiting the
amount of water diverted from
The Klamath Water Power Agency would develop and
implement the on-Project plan. The agency would consider conservation
easements, forbearance agreements, conjunctive-use programs, efficiency
measures, land and water acquisitions, groundwater development and
substitution, other voluntary transactions, water storage and other
measures.
The agreement would increase the allocation of water to the
Project in some years by 10,000 acre feet once the four dams are
removed. The agreement also would provide support for federal
legislation adding fish and wildlife, and national wildlife refuges, as
authorized purposes of the Project.
Lease land farming and the walking wetlands program
would continue under the agreement. The wetlands support diversity of
waterfowl species on the
Regulatory assurances regarding the Endangered Species
Act — sought by irrigators — are part of the agreement.
Specifically, stakeholders agree to “take every reasonable and
legally-permissible step to avoid or minimize any adverse impact” of
new aquatic species above Iron Gate Dam.
The agreement includes actions designed to maintain an
irrigation power cost of 3 cents per kilowatt-hour. The program includes
support for legislation to secure federal reserve power to serve
specific pumping facilities on the Klamath Reclamation Project.
The agreement has elements to ensure the hydropower
agreement has mitigation and other protections for residents of Klamath,
Humboldt and Siskiyou counties. It also has programs to offset potential
property tax losses in Klamath and Siskiyou counties.
Those supporting the settlement recognized the goals
of the tribes to revitalize subsistence and related economies. Those
signing on to the document also support funding for the Mazama Forest
Economic Development Project in
Implementation
and funding
The Klamath Basin Coordinating Council would be formed
to make sure elements of the Klamath River Basin Restoration Agreement
are carried out effectively. The council also would be the primary forum
for public involvement.
The agreement also provides a process to resolve
issues among parties. The four steps are: clear notice of a dispute,
information meetings to resolve the dispute, referral of the dispute to
the Klamath Basin Coordination Council, and mediation. Litigation would
be a last resort.
The long-term cost of habitat, water programs and
other measures in the Basin Restoration Agreement is estimated at about
$960 million over 10 years. It will cost about $32 million to implement
the agreement in fiscal year 2008.
More than 90 percent of the funding is budgeted for
fisheries restoration and reintroduction, and actions to enhance the
amount of water for fish.
The Klamath
Settlement Group
Those sitting at the negotiating table included
representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the National Marine
Fisheries Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land
Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
Also represented were the California Department of
Fish and Game, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Water Resources Department,
Hoopa Valley Tribe, Karuk Tribe, Klamath Tribes, and the Yurok Tribe.
Other stakeholders were
Photo credit:
Copco I dam, suckers and potato harvest in the
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