The Bureau of Reclamation pays Siskiyou County $200,000 in lieu of taxes and
possessory tax for the Siskiyou leases. At the same time, leaseland
farmers pay 98 percent of the cost to pump D Plant, which routes approximately
90,000 acre feet of water through the Sheepy Ridge tunnel and into Lower
Klamath Refuge and on into the Klamath River for refuge and river uses. A
2600% power hike will devalue the lease lands to where the irrigators couldn't
afford the pumping costs. Crawford said that this year TID customers are
paying $30 more per acre than last year. With tariff rates, TID would
pay more to operate the district than the value of the lands.
Siskiyou testifies against Klamath irrigators using dubious
PacifiCorp information
Crawford was concerned with several of the statements made by Marcia
Armstrong, District 5, from Fort Jones, Chairman of the Siskiyou County Board of
Supervisors, to the California Public Utilities Commission.
Armstrong testified that, "according to the data we received from
PacifiCorp, only 10 percent of the customers use more than 100,000 kwh
annually. However, this group of large users accounts for more than 50%
of the power consumed by the entire irrigator class." She said that these
large farmers are "very sophisticated business people."
Crawford explained to Supervisor Cook that TID comprises 90 percent of that 10
percent. The TID operation fee is paid, based on a per acre fee, by the small
family farmers. In addition to the TID fee, each irrigator must pay to
run his electric pumps.
The Siskiyou County attorney Roger A. Berliner, Washington D.C. constantly
used the term "subsidy" in describing current Project power rates
while asking questions of Armstrong, such as: "Why do you characterize
the subsidy as being at least $7.39 million?"
Armstrong's response was, "The $7.39 million figure is the additional
cost that PacifiCorp has estimated all California ratepayers must pay in order
to compensate PacifiCorp for the loss in revenue associated with the four-year
transition to the normal agricultural pumping rate schedule that PacifiCorp
proposed for these customers."
According to Armstrong, PacifiCorp stated in its testimony that the Klamath
Project provides no benefits to PacifiCorp and other ratepayers, and that
"the operation of the Klamath Project may result in a decrease of power
generation."
Responding to this accusation, Crawford explained how the Project benefits
other ratepayers as well as PacifiCorp. He said that water used to generate
power by PacifiCorp on the Klamath River is pumped and stored in the Klamath
Project. The
Project provides the cheapest power anywhere in PacifiCorp's territory, and
that six states benefit from it.
Homeowners have benefited from the relationship between PacifiCorp and the
Klamath Project which has resulted in clean, efficient low cost power for
nearly 100 years.
Project irrigators paid for the Project in full and are thus entitled to
consideration for the
value they provide to the Utility and their ratepayers.
Crawford said that the value of water as a commodity has been set by the
Bureau of
Reclamation. PacifiCorp and its customers receive a benefit from Project
return flows, the Bureau's waterbank and storage that is provided by Link
River dam which stores and regulates flows from Upper Klamath Lake.
Crawford exclaimed that we're annually putting into the river almost $20
million worth of water for power, Endangered Act demands, and Tribal demands,
and Siskiyou County is accusing us of receiving a subsidy.
Before the Klamath Project was built, Link River occasionally went dry.
Tule Lake was a huge lake in a closed basin that historically had no way to
reach the river before a tunnel was built to put this water into the river.
And historically Klamath Lake only went into the river on high-water years.
Power generation on the Klamath was not possible before the Project was built.
Questions regarding dam removal
Modoc Supervisor Bradshaw said his board would be interested in attending
another informational meeting. Cook said Siskiyou County Supervisors had been
moderately supportive of the Klamath irrigators until the news articles came
out suggesting the irrigators along with the tribes were having conversations
and working together.
He said the tribes are constantly suing Siskiyou County residents and
threatening their
livelihoods, so the collaboration with Klamath Water Users and tribes did not
go over well.
The widely-circulated op-ed that Cook was referring to was submitted by
Klamath Water Users and the Karuk and Yurok Tribes stating, "It is no
secret that major concerns for water users are affordable power and water
certainty. It is no secret that the Tribes want considerable improvements in
their fisheries and in fact want dams removed. We are listening to each
other."
Scott Seus, chairman of the Klamath Water User Association power committee,
said that the tribes are supporting the proposed rate mitigation and
"that by joining the Tribes on that letter, KWUA secured their support
for the Department of Interior's Motion for Summary Judgment at FERC."
Seus went on to say that "all parties have put demands on the table;
however, at this point they are only topics for consideration in our effort to
achieve an overall settlement. We remain committed to this collaborative
effort with all of the stakeholders, which includes Siskiyou County and are
trying to work together to deal with some of the Basin's difficult
issues".
Because of the sensitivity and magnitude of some of these issues, all
stakeholders including on and off project irrigators, County Governments,
Tribes, Environmental Groups and federal and state agencies have agreed to a
confidentiality statement. Therefore participants aren't allowed to discuss
the details of the negotiations.
It was noted at the meeting that in a March 21st proposed decision of
Administrative Law Judge Galvin before the California Public Utilities
Commission, a four-year transition plan is adopted to bring Klamath Project
customers to tariff rates. The approval also authorizes Klamath Water Users
Association to seek a separate rate classification for Project customers.
Efforts will be made to keep communication open between resource users along
the river.
