Watershed council meeting this week  

   More than 200 representatives from Oregon watershed councils are attending the gathering at the Running Y Ranch Resort, which began Tuesday night. It continues through Friday morning.

   Among the gathering ’s highlights will be a KBRA panel discussion from 10:20 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Running Y’s conference ballroom.

   Water agreement

   John Moriarty, the Oregon Watershed Council executive director, said representatives from stakeholder groups involved in the ongoing talks would use the KBRA as an example for other groups.

   “We don’t take a position one way or another,” Moriarty said. “We want to have conversation with folks involved to hear what works and doesn’t work.”

   He said panel members would discuss key factors that motivated the agreement, stumbling blocks and remaining challenges. The purpose of the discussion, according to organizers, is to provide insights for other groups and communities facing natural resource conflicts.

   Klamath Falls was chosen as the site for the annual conference, which rotates around the state, because of the variety of water-related issues and projects in the Klamath Basin.

   “We try to get out and move around the state,” Moriarty said, noting the Klamath Watershed Council has provided strong assistance.

   Some attendees toured Klamath Falls birding and wetland sites Tuesday afternoon, including the Wing Watchers trail. An evening reception at the Running Y featured Oregon author Valerie Rapp and environmental landscape painter Jennifer Williams.

   Today’s welcome address at 8 a.m. will feature talks by Klamath County Commissioner John Elliott and live video feed from Rep. Greg Walden, whose Congressional district includes Eastern Oregon.

   Key note speakers at tonight’s banquet, set for 7 p.m., include Todd Graham, president of the Montana based Aeroscene Land Logic, and Jane O’Keeffe, a former Lake County commissioner who was co-chair of the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board from 2002 to 2007. She was appointed to the Environmental Quality Commission in 2008, is chairwoman of Sustainable Northwest, a Lake County Resources board member and has been a partner with her husband, John, at the O’Keeffe Ranch in Adel.

   Two Thursday afternoon field trips are planned, one to Goold’s Ranch in the Chiloquin-Sprague River area and a second with stops along Upper Klamath Lake. The event wraps up with workshops Friday morning.