Klamath
Water Users Association
NEWS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April
13, 2006
Contact: Greg Addington, Executive Director - greg@cvcwireless.net
Today the California Public
Utilities Commission adopted the recommendation of an administrative law judge
to provide a 4-year rate mitigation schedule to Klamath Project irrigators in
The ruling comes just days
before the expiration of a 50-year contract between the Department of Interior
and PacifiCorp. In their ruling
Commissioners noted the work and collaboration between PacifiCorp and the
Irrigators in coming to this agreement.
The Water Users are pleased
that the Commission recognized the need to preserve the value that the Klamath
Project has for the public good. It allows for continued pumping for irrigation,
drainage and allows farmers to continue to economically provide water to two of
the nation’s premier National Wildlife Refuges,
Without a decision,
California Project irrigators would have been facing rate increases ranging up
to 2600% this irrigation season. As it stands, the ruling will result in power
rate increases between 300% and 800% in year one.
“This keeps us from
falling of the cliff this season”, said Scott Seus, a Tulelake farmer and
chairman of the Klamath Water Users (KWUA) Power Committee. “This makes it a
manageable situation and buys us time to make our case for what our long-term
rate should be.”
The General Rate Case for
Greg Addington, Executive
Director of KWUA said, “50 years ago the power company and the PUC recognized
the benefit that this irrigation project had for ratepayers. Not much has
changed and we plan to show that that benefit still exists today.”
Klamath Project irrigators
are engaged in productive discussions with a variety of stakeholders regarding
hydro power re-licensing issues and are optimistic about the direction of those
discussions.
KWUA
To preserve, protect and defend the water
and power rights of the landowners of the