Klamath Irrigation District

Board Meeting Notes

June 10, 2004

 

Agenda in Blue

Notes in Black

 

Approval of Minutes 5/13/04

Approval of vouchers and warrants

 

Old Business

 

  1. Adjudication  

 

Bill Ganong (KID’s lawyer) reported on a hearing he attended in Salem on the F&WS and the old Kitridge claims for the Klamath Marsh.  The Kitridge claims have a certified water right with the earliest water date of 1932.  They divert 1/80 cfs or 3 acre-feet.  F&WS had no evidence that Kitridge ever used any of the certified water right and admitted no evidence that they needed that much water.

 

The Kitridge claims supposedly are old Walton Right Claims that have to do with Klamath Indian allotment land on the old reservation.  However, you have to prove that the land was originally owned by an Indian allottee and water was used on the land after the land was sold to a non-Indian and that the water was put to a beneficial use in a reasonable time (question of what’s reasonable).  It came out in the hearing that Buck Williams (original owner of the Yamsi Ranch at the head of the Williamson River ) bought quite a bit of the old allotment land from individual original Indian owners.  On some parcels, he’d turn around and transfer the deed to Kitridge or another area rancher on the very same day as he bought it if the land wasn’t adjacent to his other holdings but close to another’s.  If this is the case, then Williams (being the first non-Indian to own the land) never irrigated or used the water for beneficial use so Kitridge’s old Walton claims are invalid.

 

The Klamath Tribes have not contested the Klamath Marsh claims.

 

Another point that came out at the hearing was the following US’s position:  There’s no such thing as natural irrigation on the Klamath Marsh (even though the Marsh is usually flooded in the winter and spring from snowmelt).

 

  1. Lawsuit/legal

    1. Takings  

 

Nothing new to report.

 

    1. PCFFA II  

 

Hoopa’s are talking about settlement but the Yurok Tribe is ready to go to war.  Looks like a trial date will be set for sometime in September 2004.

 

    1. ONRC v EPA NPDES permit  

 

Still stayed and KID is chaining ditches to keep ahead of the weeds and moss.

 

    1. ONRC v BOR  

 

Still haven’t heard a word about this lawsuit.

 

  1. A-Canal Fish Screen  

 

Seems to be working pretty well, small problems still cropping up.  Still nothing from the BOR on the transfer, O&M agreement, etc.  Questions are sent to the BOR office and die.  They seem not in tune with the O&M problems, more worried/involved with legal stuff.

 

Solem mentioned (extensively) other Project maintenance problems that the BOR is ignoring.  Out at Gerber Dam last fall, BOR removed the headgate doors for maintenance and this spring they were still there lying on the ground.  When start up happened, water from the dam flooded the ditches because there was no way to control the flow of water.

 

Ditch riders for KBB have mentioned that some of the pumps on the Straits Drain aren’t working (broken down) but Cecil (BOR Project Manager) says everything is OK and they are thinking about letting out contracts for maintenance on the Drain pumps since their employee who normally does that work has retired.

 

Solem stated that the local BOR office is just not up and running on any of the required maintenance on the “reserved” works.

 

KID pays a percentage of the cost of the maintenance on all the reserved work in the Project but right now, maintenance doesn’t seem a high priority.  Jim Bryant used to have a pretty good handle on it but not his replacement Cecil Lesley.

 

Sam Hescok of KDD threw the first dart at BOR about the Straits Drain.  What if we have a big storm; refuges and KDD floods; where’s the water going to go if the pumps aren’t running?

 

  1. O&M reimbursement  

 

Most of the special issues have been taken care of.  There are still about 150 outstanding checks and the board is thinking of putting an ad in the local paper to see if some of the landowners in 2001 who still haven’t received their reimbursement will come forward.

 

  1. Other  

 

New Business  

 

  1. 2004 operations

    1. 2004 Operations Plan  

 

According to the BOR, they don’t anticipate missing any lake level targets or downstream flow requirements.  They will drop downstream flows to 800 cfs on the 16th of June as required by the NOAA BiOp and 2004 Operations Plan.  BOR just operating day to day and under the BiOps.

 

The Refuge water being pumped into the Klamath River is turning into Tribal Trust water instead of Water Bank water.

 

KID is running moderate volumes of water into the system.

 

    1. Water Bank  

 

A few private well owners are complaining about the pumpers but no dry wells yet.  KID reports that there have only been a few minor problems with communication with the pumpers on when they are pumping into the system and when they shut off their pumps.

 

  1. Employee issues

    1. Bowman  

 

Bowman will need wrist surgery and Solem is working out an agreement with Workman’s Comp for him to go on light duty as soon as he’s released to come back to work.

 

    1. Paydays  

 

After talking to the Union , Solem says any change in the payday schedule will have to be negotiated during the next contract cycle.  The contract runs 4 years and the current one ends on December 31, 2004 .  There will be opposition to pay checks only being cut once a month instead of twice a month.

 

  1. Equipment

    1. dump truck  

 

Still looking for the right one at the right price.  Solem mentioned that Bear Cat has some for sale but he hasn’t had time to check them out yet.  He’ll get that done before the next board meeting.

 

    1. Crane  

 

Dan Brown is still interested in buying the Pettibone crane but he only offered $5000.  The board thought that was a low offer and discussed other options.  Put the crane out for bid with a minimum bid or return it to Oregon State surplus and let them sell it for us.  The board decided to put it out for bid and see how much interest there is in the machine.

 

  1. Property issues:  Anderson Road, Avalon  

 

Anderson Road :  No contact with owners on KID’s purchase offer.  Solem will contact them again.

 

Avalon:  Solem contacted 27 real estate offices by fax and received no responses.  According to the Klamath County assessor’s office, the property is 2.93 acres; is assessed on the tax rolls for $25,840; and market value is listed as $37,440.  The board decided to offer it for sale for $40,000 or best offer to give a little wiggle room in negations with perspective buyers.

 

  1. Delinquency list  

 

The board discussed the delinquency list – of non-paying landowners.  There are 26 landowners who owe over $100 and 18 of them owe for more than one year.  The board decided that it was time to turn the list over to Ganong for liens, collections, and foreclosures.  All required mailings to the landowners have been done.  This is the next step.

 

  1. Conservation Project Grant applications  

    1. BOR grand; A-3-c  

 

The A-3-c will be piped from around Lien’s store and Sterns School all the way to Altamont and will include many structures – cleanouts, boxes, junctions, etc.

 

    1. WRDA  

 

No news yet on this grant.

 

    1. 2025  

 

No news yet on this grant.

 

    1. Preliminary engineering  

 

The board has decided to do some preliminary engineering on the Miller Hill pumping plant.  When it was built 50 years ago, it was supposed to be a temporary structure but it has never been replaced.

 

  1. Newsletter  

 

Solem is writing a Summer 2004 Newsletter to send out to all the landowners in the District.

 

  1. Enterprise request  

 

Ernie at the Enterprise District has requested to borrow/buy/lease the computer program that KID uses to run the district.  This program is a database for water flows, parcels, people collections, liens, etc. Over the years, Darin Kandra – KID’s Computer Technician has written, tweaked, and runs the program that runs KID. 

 

This request made the board discuss whether or not to license or copyright the program.  How much to charge Enterprise ; charge $1/year per account or some other program?  Enterprise has lots of accounts – approximately 1500.  Would Darin have to set the program up – what to charge for his time? 

 

The board decided that Solem needed another meeting with Ernie to see just what he needs and what he expects.

 

  1. Other  

 

New/same seeps:  Mr. Boyle on the C-7-a is complaining again about seeps.  About 300 + feet of the lateral needs to be piped.  Hicks at BOR has more money (approx $50,000) to buy more pipe and this repair would cost around $10,000 leaving money for other jobs.

 

Juniper Ridge Ranch in South Poe Valley (on the F and F-6) is again complaining about seeps in their alfalfa fields.  The new owners went in and ripped and core trenched the fields, which tore up the chalk layer and allows the water to seep.  Owners can’t believe that anything they did caused the problem. KID has been out to the property and has spent tons of time and money trying to fix the problem.  When does the board say enough is enough?  KID PAM’ed the ditches but no proof that that worked.  Could pipe the ditches but that would be too expensive.  Maybe lining the ditches?  Nope, cattle use the ditches for water.  Board suggested that maybe JRR should put in a drain.  Solem to check with BOR for more pipe and cost.

 

Link River Dam Power Plants:  

 

Ross Fleming again brought up the proposal for the board to look into KID gaining control of the Link River East and West Powerhouses.  According to Solem, approximately 1,000 cfs of water is diverted to the powerhouses when they are both up and running (more then the A-Canal) but the water returns to the Link River after going through the turbines.

 

According to Kandra, PP&L is talking to the City of Klamath Falls about turning the land the powerhouses sit on over to the city and it being turned into a park or nature area.

 

Does KID want to get involved?  How serious are the board members in opening up discussions with PP&?  Do they really want to get into the power business?  Owning the power plants are not going to help with the rate negations. Are the power plants under FERC?  Will they need a new FERC license?   Don’t they need to hire some expertise? Can KID condemn the property and take it?  Is this the best power plant to invest in?  How profitable would they be? Too many questions, not enough answers.  What would it cost to get the answers?

 

PP&L can buy power cheaper then they can produce it on the Link River because of environmental concerns like fish screens for the inflow and spill requirements for fish.

 

Board member Ed Bair is totally against this idea unless KID could also get control of the Link River Dam.  Steve Kandra is not in favor while Ross still is.

 

June 16, 2004 , KWUA

July 8, 2004 KID Board meeting

 

 

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