KBRA meeting tonight; board to decide how to proceed 

The Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) must both be signed by the county if it wishes to stay engaged in the processes included in those documents, processes that include the scientific studies that will inform the decision on whether or not the dams will be removed and how the various restoration programs will be designed.

The Siskiyou Daily News and its sister papers in southern Siskiyou County have received numerous letters to the editor urging the supervisors in both directions – accept and decline – and a recent press release from the Karuk Tribe, Cal Trout and the Tulelake Irrigation District joins with those encouraging the board to sign the agreements.

“‘We must stop the Klamath’s rotating crisis. Every year we all face increasing economic uncertainty because we have yet to implement a strategy to manage our scarce water resources. More importantly, we worry whether or not we will be able to teach our children how to practice our culture – this is true whether or not you are a farmer, fisherman, or Indian,’” John Crawford, president of the Tulelake Irrigation District, stated in the release.

According to the release, the groups feel that the KBRA will benefit basin farmers, ranchers and conservationists by adding “real-time management” of flows from Upper Klamath Lake, from which the Klamath River flows, along with an irrigation project water management plan, fisheries reintroduction plan, drought plan, dam removal plan and others.

Alternately, Copco resident Rex Cozzalio wrote in Wednesday’s Siskiyou Daily News questioning the county’s participation in the KBRA and KHSA processes, stating that he believes “everything in our region will suffer, including the environment” under them.

The board’s public forum will give those in attendance a chance to voice opinions for or against the county’s participation, and the supervisors will decide at the end of the meeting if it will sign the documents, not sign, or wait to take action.