The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has met its obligations to bank water for salmon in the Klamath River over the past two years, but needs to shed light on the process so the public understands how it's being spent, the General Accounting Office reported Wednesday.
The investigation into Reclamation's water bank progress was requested in 2003 by Democratic California Congressmen Mike Thompson of St. Helena and Henry Waxman of Los Angeles.
The report found Reclamation has not been clear about how water spilled from dams to prevent flooding is counted against the water bank, and why it has used river flow data not publicly available, among other things.
The water bank, it reads, seems to have increased how much water is available to boost river flows to protect salmon in the lower river, but there is uncertainty about its impacts on river diversions and groundwater use.
Due to varying assumptions on the amount of water that is freed up by idling irrigated land in 2003, Reclamation in 2004 relied mostly on groundwater sources for the water bank. But state and federal water agencies have found evidence that aquifers stressed by drought are refilling slower than normal after the pumping.
Reclamation "is uncertain whether it can meet its water bank obligations, particularly for spring flows, while increasing its reliance on crop idling," the GAO report reads.
Reclamation is trying to come up with 100,000 acre feet of water this year by paying farmers in its central California-Oregon border irrigation project to idle land or pump groundwater. Those contracts are not complete, but Reclamation spokeswoman Rae Olsen said the agency will meet the 100,000 acre foot mark.
Reduced deliveries to the project's east side and from Gerber Lake are imminent, and no water is planned to be delivered from Clear Lake, Olsen said.
"Unless is rains for 40 days, and that would change everything," Olsen said.
Reclamation is building a website to consolidate information on the water bank and make it more transparent to the public. While it's under construction, the web page can be found at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao/pilot_water_bank/latest.pdf
Thompson said the report confirms that the Upper Klamath Basin is oversubscribed, and that the water bank won't solve the river's long-term woes.
"The water bank process has been secretive and stakeholders have been kept in the dark," Thompson said. "The report's recommendation to improve communication and provide public information on management decisions would be a step in the right direction."
GAO's report on Klamath water bank
Whether Reclamation can continue meeting its water bank obligation using current methods is unclear, given the uncertain results of crop idling and the unknown sustainability of groundwater pumping. This uncertainty adds urgency to Reclamation and stakeholder efforts to collaboratively identify and evaluate long-term solutions. In the meantime, because the water bank acts as the primary mechanism for balancing competing demands for water, Reclamation must be able to clearly communicate to stakeholders how the water bank is managed and how water is accounted for.
The GAO report can be found at www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-283
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