Klamath water decisions will cause farms to close, by Ben DuVal for H&N, posted to KBC 5/26/2020. "The only reason it’s even available (for Klamath River Salmon) is the reservoirs that were built for a single purpose - storing irrigation water for the Klamath farmers. How does a legitimate Biological Opinion include water that naturally would have never even existed?...My farm, like many on the Project, was developed on land that was under 10’ or more of water until that time. Now, we are told that there isn’t even 0.5 acre-foot available for that same acre...(Also) Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) is being held at a higher level than necessary, purportedly to allow sucker populations in UKL to access spawning habitat. Unfortunately, for the past 20 years, agency-imposed higher and higher UKL levels have contributed to a whopping 0% survivability....Does it seem rational to continue to ruin the economic base of the Klamath Basin in order to save zero fish?"

Klamath water users oppose Yurok Tribe request for flow increases 5/19/2020. "Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) filed its opposition with a federal court to a motion filed the Yurok Tribe and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association that was filed May 13.  The tribe’s motion requests that the court re-open a lawsuit that was put on hold for two years in March, and that the court immediately require increased flows below Iron Gate Dam in the Klamath River.."

How high can a salmon jump? by Judge Bob Kaster, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 5/21/2020.  "It seems that everyone is on the bandwagon to yank out four dams along the Klamath River which have existed for decades and which do what they were designed to do, including flood control and clean hydroelectric power generation. Everyone is on the bandwagon, that is, except for the majority of those of us who actually live here in the California and Oregon counties where the dams are located; and except for many of us who are actually paying for it, i.e., the PacifiCorp electric utility ratepayers...."

VIDEO - Six minutes: Calif. U.S. Congressman Devin Nunes water update on Central Valley irrigation. President Trump on  "...water being poured out into the Pacific..." Trump signed an executive order for water to be released to the farmers two years ago, however California Governor Gavin Newsom is blocking California farmers from receiving millions of gallons of water. https://youtu.be/VQSTQG-gYRk

Klamath Dams - Attack Planned and Carried Out? Followed by: Ottawa blocks Chinese takeover of Aecon on security grounds. Commentary by Rudy Hiley, Tulelake, for KBC News 5/21/2020

JESUS: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in..." Matthew 25:35

5/18/2020 - "54 Million Americans are fighting hunger," according to a Whitehouse Meeting today with President Trump and restaurateurs. All the while the Bureau of Reclamation is sending Klamath Project stored water and that of California's Central Valley to the ocean, denying water to millions of acres of productive farmland.."

Yurok Tribe joins lawsuit seeking temporary restraining order to restore essential water flows for Klamath River salmon, Del Norte Triplicate, posted to KBC 5/18/2020. "The Yurok Tribe joined the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources in pursuit of a temporary restraining order to reinstate water flows on the Klamath River."

* Deadline June 10 - Klamath Project Drought Response Agency continues helping farmers

Now is the time to comment on California groundwater plans, CFBF April 1, 2020, posted to KBC 5/18/2020. "The new deadlines for the public to comment on the posted plans are May 15 and June 3, depending on when the GSP was posted online."

Irrational Klamath water management a formula for failure commentary by Tulelake farmer Ben DuVal for the Capital Press, posted to KBC May 18, 2020. "While it looks like the Klamath Project will only get as little as 55,000 acre-feet in a year that irrigation demand would be approximately 400,000 acre-feet, we are going to send a minimum 152,000 acre-feet of stored water from Upper Klamath Lake down the Klamath River. That’s 152,000 acre-feet, or more, of water that never, under any circumstances, would have been provided by nature. The only reason it’s even available is the reservoirs that were built for a single purpose — storing irrigation water for the Klamath farmers."

Two steers killed by wolves in Fort Klamath, H&N, posted to KBC 5/18/2020.
Farm Bureau: WDFW should let ranchers see where wolves are, Capital Press, posted to KBC 5/18/20

Klamath Irrigation District and Shasta View Irrigation District vs Bureau of Reclamation, Judge Clark decision, filed May 15, 2020.

Klamath Irrigation District vs Oregon Water Resources Department, filed May 14, 2020.

Water crisis looming on Klamath Project, by Lyle Ahrens, KOBI KOTI TV, posted to KBC 5/18/2020. KID Manager Gene Souza: “Based on the information that I have from Reclamation, we could be seeing a cutoff for Klamath Irrigation District as soon as June 15th...Hundreds of millions of dollars in workers, in restaurants, in equipment, transportation, fuel, everything that keeps this basin going is at risk right now...”

California workers’ comp benefits expand, CFBF, posted to KBC 5/18/2020. "Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order last week requiring that "any COVID-19-related illness of an employee shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment for purposes of awarding workers' compensation benefits..."

On 75th anniversary, Bly remains connected to tragic WWII event - Japanese balloon bomb, Bend Bulletin, posted to KBC 5/18/2020. "...a tragic incident that caused the only American casualties of World War II on continental U.S. soil..."

Supreme Court scales back scope of groundwater pollution ruling, Capital Press, posted to KBC 5/18/2020.

Pacific Power proposes 10% rate increase for irrigation customers, Capital Press, posted to KBC 5/18/2020. "One of Oregon’s largest electric utilities is seeking a 10% rate increase for irrigation customers in part to help pay for more renewable energy and transmission upgrades."
KBC NOTE: * PacifiCorp owns four green, clean, renewable-energy Klamath River hydroelectric dams servicing 70,000 households
* When the Klamath Project was built, it allowed Pacific Power to have cheap regulated water for power in exchange for affordable rates to irrigators who paid for the Klamath Project.
* With lawsuits from Tribes and environmental groups, Pacific Power raised rates more than 2000% to Klamath Irrigators
* Soon thereafter, Tribes and the environmental groups "assured" irrigators they would agree to affordable power rates if Irrigators would support destroying the Klamath River dams, among other things in an "agreement"
*  Pacific Power began charging Klamath Basin farmers, ranchers and residents on their monthly bills for the Power Company to destroy our clean green renewable-energy dams.
* The citizens of Siskiyou and Klamath Counties have voted overwhelmingly against destroying our hydro dams

American Farm Bureau urges Supreme Court to hear Klamath water case, CFBF AgAlert, posted to KBC 5/18/2020. "Under the rule announced by the (appeals court), farmers and ranchers in the arid West operate under the constant threat that federal bureaucrats will unilaterally override their water rights in service of federal interests once more, just as they did in 2001," the brief said, adding that "the stakes for farmers and ranchers thus could not be higher."

Klamath Project Drought Response Agency is accepting applications for 2020 programs due May 15

INTERESTING TIMELINE of Blackmail  PCFFA and Tribes temporarily halt lawsuit if Irrigators agree to less water  Irrigators forced to agree to plan of 140,000 a.f. of water allocation Bureau later cuts allocation from 140,000 a.f. to 55,000 a.f.

4/1/2020 - PRESS RELEASE - COMMENTS DUE APRIL 10! Reclamation seeks public input on proposed Klamath Project interim operations (We were given 9 days to respond to a 178 page technical report, which severely decreases available water to the Klamath Project irrigators) 4/3/2020 Bureau of Reclamation issues new three-year plan for Klamath River, Capital Press. "...the Yurok Tribe and fishing groups said the interim BiOp “allocates more water for river flows in most hydrologic years to help the salmon,” allowing the groups to temporarily halt the lawsuit and withdraw their request for a preliminary injunction." 4/1/2020 Yurok Tribe and commercial fishing families (PCFFA) secure more water for salmon - Victory was declared by Soros-funded Earthjustice in Press Release: 4/22/2020 Reclamation releases Interim Operating Procedures and 2020 Operations Plan for the Klamath Project, Bureau of Reclamation News Release "the Project supply from Upper Klamath Lake for the 2020 irrigation season is approximately 140,000 acre-feet. This volume is approximately one-third the historical irrigation demand of the Klamath Project. 4/22/2020  THEN: this was thrown in the Mix: Environmentalists and farmers lose lawsuits over Klamath refuges, Capital Press . "The agricultural plaintiffs argued these burdens would threaten the viability of farming and interfere with a federal law governing leases of refuge lands." WISH LIST FOR SUCKERS NAILS FARMS, February 11, 1992. KBC NOTE: The FWS Wish List for Upper Klamath and also Tulelake Refuges is finally coming true. "“Marshall Staunton, president of the Tulelake Growers Association, said the proposal ignores the impact on farmers in the Basin. He said he felt betrayed by the wildlife service. “We thought we were shooting for a win-win situation...I think it shows tremendous bad faith when we’re supposed to be working together.”  4/28/2020 Project irrigators protest Reclamation's unlawful use of water, H&N 4/28/2020. "An interim order put in place by Oregon Water Resources Department on April 21 gave the state agency charge over the water distribution and demanded that Reclamation not use water from Upper Klamath Lake, including in a flushing flow down the Link River Dam, unless it follows specific guidelines outlined in the order. The order has not stopped the recent 40,000 acre foot flushing flow... The federal government’s stealing from us.” 5/8/2020 A disaster on our hands, H&N, "The water allocation of 140,000 acre feet for the Project announced (by Reclamation) in April will likely drop to...an unofficial estimate of 55,000 acre feet left for the remainder of the irrigation season...For comparison, 350,000 acre feet is a full allocation..." Yurok Tribe joins lawsuit seeking temporary restraining order to restore essential water flows for Klamath River salmon, Del Norte Triplicate 5/18/2020. "The Yurok Tribe joined the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources in pursuit of a temporary restraining order to reinstate water flows on the Klamath River."

Klamath in Peril - Three Decades as a Klamath Project Irrigator: Observations Heading into a Grim Irrigation Season, by Klamath Irrigation District President Ty Kleiwer, farmer and rancher 5/13/2020  "...We are on a pathway to doom and it appears this year brings another disaster, likely with worse consequences than what we faced in 2001, the first and only time until now that the Klamath Irrigation Project was shut down for the perceived benefit of fish protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA)...this federal water project...was developed solely to provide stored water for irrigation of local farm and ranch lands...this largely government-caused “drought” has the same roots of cause as the 2001 crisis: a scientifically unjustified, narrow focus on lake levels and downstream flow releases to avoid jeopardizing ESA-listed fish. While our local farming community will once again carry the burden of these devastating federal directives, the imperiled fish populations show no positive response to these actions...Many farmers in the basin are descendants of World War I and World War II veterans who won homesteads in the basin, or are descendants of Czechoslovakian immigrants who fled wartime unrest in Europe to find security and prosperity in the Klamath Project..."

A disaster on our hands, H&N, 5/8/2020. "The Klamath Project ...is now facing a possible water shutoff by or before July. The water allocation of 140,000 acre feet for the Project announced (by Reclamation) in April will likely drop to...an unofficial estimate of 55,000 acre feet left for the remainder of the irrigation season...For comparison, 350,000 acre feet is a full allocation for the Project... 'This is a significant reduction from the 140,000 acre feet we were told in April,” Souza said in an email on Friday. “Farmers have planted crops, hired workers, and have made plans based upon the 140,000 acre feet … and the rug is currently being pulled out from underneath them.' "
KBC NOTE: Yesterday, May 8th, approximately 100 farmers and ranchers gathered to be told that the Bureau will probably shut off their water in June, contrary to what they promised in April. Also the Bureau is sending massive amounts of water down the Klamath River contrary to a court order: "The BOR is hereby ordered to cease releasing stored water from UKL reservoir..." 
   The Bureau's interim report concludes, "the cumulative impacts (to help fish) are likely to be minor, as sucker recovery, coho enhancement, and changes to the biological resources would require a much longer time frame to be implemented and their effects are speculative beyond the period of analysis.”

Project irrigators protest Reclamation's unlawful use of water, H&N 4/28/2020. "An interim order put in place by Oregon Water Resources Department on April 21 gave the state agency charge over the water distribution and demanded that Reclamation not use water from Upper Klamath Lake, including in a flushing flow down the Link River Dam, unless it follows specific guidelines outlined in the order. The order has not stopped the recent 40,000 acre foot flushing flow... The federal government’s stealing from us.”  

OWRD/Oregon Water Resource Dept: Interim Order Concerning Release of Stored Water, 4/23/2020, posted 5/4/2020. "The Department confirms that as of April 16, 2020, it has taken exclusive charge of the UKL for the purpose of dividing and distributing the water therefrom in accordance with the respective and relative rights of the various users of water from the ditch or reservoir..."

ALTERNATIVE WRIT OF MANDAMUS, KID v OWRD 4/21/2020, posted 5/4/2020.

Response to massive flows diverted out of Klamath Project irrigation water storage by Klamath River resident Rex Cozzalio, Hornbrook, posted to KBC 5/4/2020 "...For them to continue water wasting against court orders is revealingly ironic, when BOR, OWR, and 'collaborators' are all too happy to comply when court orders are AGAINST the Upper Basin irrigators.  I truly hope this can intervene soon enough to avert total Upper Basin carnage this year..."

Klamath Project operations unchanged by OWRD ruling, H&N 4/26/2020. KBC Note: The article reads: "The order urges the Bureau of Reclamation to stop releasing stored water from Upper Klamath Lake..."  The court order reads: "The BOR is hereby ordered to cease releasing stored water from UKL reservoir..." They continue to divert our stored water out of Upper Klamath Lake.

Reopening Oregon, by Representative E. Werner Reschke, H&N Guest Commentary 4/26/2020. "...I continue to advocate for reopening our state sooner, rather than later, in a safe and responsible way. One size does not fit all. That’s why I recommend reopening Oregon regionally, based on objective criteria within a particular community..."

Klamath water allocation short of demand for farmers, ranchers, Capital Press 4/24/2020. "The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will provide approximately 140,000 acre-feet of water to farms and ranches from Upper Klamath Lake in 2020...only one-third of historical demand for the Klamath Project...The plan, finalized Wednesday, comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by the Yurok Tribe, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and the Institute for Fisheries Resources against the bureau, seeking an additional 50,000 acre-feet of water for salmon..."

Psalm 46:1 - "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble"

OWRD takes charge of Upper Klamath Lake, H&N 4/24/2020. "The (court) order said it prohibits U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from diverting stored water in Upper Klamath Lake through Link River for purposes of a 50,000 acre-feet flushing flow without a water right."  KBC NOTE: Rumor has it that the Bureau is defying the court order and continues to divert our stored water into the ocean.

TID, KID anticipate significant Klamath water supply shortfall, H&N, posted to KBC 4/26/2020. "...We fear being able to start and then getting shut down for the rest of the season, like mid-season...”

Reclamation releases Interim Operating Procedures and 2020 Operations Plan for the Klamath Project, Bureau of Reclamation News Release 4/22/2020. "the Project supply from Upper Klamath Lake for the 2020 irrigation season is approximately 140,000 acre-feet. This volume is approximately one-third the historical irrigation demand of the Klamath Project...The 2020 Operations Plan ... provides increased water flows in the Klamath River for Endangered Species Act-listed coho, as well as Chinook salmon, and maintains Upper Klamath Lake elevations important for endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers..." KBC NOTE: Rec concludes "...Finding of No Significant Impact related to the Interim Operating Procedures..." however the plan states that "...involuntary land fallowing of productive irrigable land within the Proposed Action Alternative area would occur leading to an increased risk to local rural agricultural communities.” OUR "risk" of them putting our stored water into the ocean: No water, no farms.

Matthew 5:6 - “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”