Water storage feasible  

March 24, 2010

   Klamath County Commissioner Al Switzer said Bureau of Reclamation staff told him a proposal to turn Long Lake Valley into water storage could be done. “Technically it will work, so that’s good news,” Switzer said. Whether it happens depends on other factors, however.  

   Another four to five months of study is needed to determine whether the project would be economically feasible among other things before the Bureau.       

   At that point, officials would decide whether to ask Congress for funding.

   Bureau officials said preliminary cost-benefit analyses are not positive. Estimated costs for construction ranges from $550 million to $2.3 billion.

   The signing of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, a document that seeks to resolve water conflicts in the region, prompted the Bureau to consider the project for its environmental impacts.

   “As a result of these recent developments, further studies will be conducted to factor in additional potential benefits into the final analysis and final benefit-to-cost ratio,” wrote Kevin Moore, the Bureau’s local spokesman, in an e-mail.  

   Local government officials and others have sought for years to turn the natural valley east of Klamath Falls into a water storage facility. While it covers a fraction of the area occupied by Upper Klamath Lake, the facility would be deep enough to hold a similar amount of water, about 350,000 to 500,000 acre-feet.

   Drought

   Water is in short supply this year as the Basin’s irrigation season nears. Upper Klamath Lake is at record low water levels, and precipitation and inflows into the lake are below average.  

   The Bureau has said it could deliver up to 150,000 acre-feet of water to the Klamath Reclamation Project this year, between 30 percent and 40 percent of normal annual delivery.

   Despite efforts to do so, proposals for Long Lake were not included in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement. The agreement does contain language indicating the Bureau would continue its studies.

   Moore said developing Long Lake would meet Bureau objectives and its mission. Studies also have shown there would be water available in a number of years to pump into the facility for later use.

   But the cost of construction — from inflow and outflow tunnels to pumping needs — could  be more than the project’s value.

   Greg Addington, executive director of Klamath Water Users Association, said the restoration agreement could actually improve the likelihood of Congress one day approving the project.

   More reason

   Setting aside the water for environmental use instead of just agriculture would give more reason to build it, especially as the U.S. Department of the Interior considers the potential impacts to fisheries connected to the Klamath River.

   “I think in light of the KBRA, I do think it brings much more support to the project,” Addington said.

   Construction, if it happens, is years away, and Congress would need to grant approval and funding.