"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Christian Pastor executed by Nazi Germany 1945

***Klamath Dam Removal, current and failed agreements, related articles, letters, videos, press releases, documents, and Who's Who

KBC's KRRC / Klamath River Renewal Corporation (Dam Destruction Group) Page

!!! JOIN OUR KLAMATH BASIN CRISIS FACEBOOK PAGE FOR LATEST KLAMATH BASIN RESOURCE-USER'S NEWS AND DISCUSSIONS
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APRIL 2001 - when Klamath irrigators were informed that they could not have their deeded irrigation water; for the first time ever in known history their land and wetlands were denied water.
KLAMATH BASIN CRISIS - ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT GONE WRONG from: Chris Moudry, Basin Fertilizer, Merrill, OR, April 2001. "I am writing this memo for insight to what can happen when the Endangered Species Act and environmental extremism come together and attack personal property rights. You may think, “Not in America!” Read our story..."

Little to No water for Klamath Project Farms in 2021, Klamath Water Users Association 4/8/21

Klamath Water Users Association statement regarding DOI withdrawal of updated Klamath Project legal guidance, KWUA Press Release 4/8/21. "(Previous legal guidance: "...the only legally authorized use of water stored in Upper Klamath Lake is irrigation.." )

Final order prohibiting release of stored irrigation water, OWRD / Oregon Water Resources Dept, 4/6/21

KID/Klamath Irrigation District page

Bureau of Reclamation's threat to KID / Klamath Irrigation District, posted to KBC 4/6/2021. Letter from Bureau of Reclamation to Klamath Irrigation District attorney Nathan Rietmann, threatening KID with federal court and "potential suspension or exclusion from the drought relief funding program this year..." if KID so much as takes their stored irrigation water from Klamath Lake, "even to charge the canals." 

The History of Good Friday, Harvest, 4/2/21

KID Letter to Patrons of Klamath Irrigation District and our stakeholders, including water status, Bureau of Reclamation bleak irrigation water forecast, and KID lawsuit 4/2/21.

Klamath Project Water Availability from Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, Bureau of Reclamation 4/2/21. "Reclamation now anticipates this delay to be at least through May 1, 2021, and likely further in time..."

 Klamath Irrigation District v. US Bureau of Reclamation, regarding Waters of the Klamath River Basin, Emergency Motion for Preliminary Injunction 3/29/21. "...Reclamation sometimes says it is using stored water in UKL to fulfill trust obligations it has to the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes, both of which are located in California. But Reclamation’s trust obligations to the tribes in California afford no water rights to use stored water in UKL, as neither Tribe (nor Reclamation on their behalf) has ever claimed a water right in UKL in the Klamath Adjudication..."

The significance of FERC / Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's solicitation of comments regarding PacifiCorp's unaccountability regarding destruction of Klamath River Dams, reservoirs, environment, public safety, economy, and private and public property, update by Rex Cozzalio, Hornbrook, CA posted to KBC 4/2/21.

LaMalfa Rolls Out Legislative Package Banning “COVID Vaccine Passports” CA Congressman LaMalfa PRESS RELEASE, posted to KBC 4/2/21

Wildlife and Farmland HERE FOR AUDIO, President of California Waterfowl Association Ph. D. Robert McLandress, UC Davis ecology: "There are (433) species of wildlife here; the (biological) opinion deals with three..." Here in the Pacific Flyway, Klamath Basin is "...the most important waterfowl area in North America..." Waterfowl eat "...70 million pounds of food here...," and more than half comes from the farms.  

Klamath farmers confront dry year, legal challenge, CFBF, posted to KBC 3/30/2021. "...Environmental groups challenged the plan's continued allowance of leasing refuge lands for agriculture as inconsistent with the refuges' purpose of waterfowl management. Conversely, the Tulelake Irrigation District challenged the new restrictions as inconsistent with the Kuchel Act, which identifies agriculture as a key purpose of the refuges...John Crawford, president of the Tulelake Irrigation District board of directors, farms on the refuge and said he is proud of local farmers' contribution to the waterfowl population...'We leave a tremendous amount of grain standing there for ducks and geese every year. Right now, there's thousands of geese utilizing that standing grain that was left last fall...' "...U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it anticipates it will not have enough water this summer to meet minimum requirements for endangered fish, let alone to fulfill irrigation demands."

* Leave it alone, by former Tulelake Refuge Manager, the late Harry Christiansen, H&N 9/8/04. "...What would happen if they stopped farming the refuge and let the 22,000 acres of farmland sit idle? ... envision 22,000 acres of weeds. This is in an area where the local farmers have spent hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars fighting weeds throughout the years....it would take 162,800 acre-feet more water to flood the farm area than it takes to farm it. At present, that amount of water isn't available and there isn't anything indicating it will ever be available..."

* Wish List for Suckers Nails Farms, USFWS proposal 1992

What's in a species? For suckers, some lines are blurred, H&N, posted to KBC 3/30/2021. "...scientists have yet to find a way to genetically distinguish shortnose and largescale suckers in the Lost River...geographic and temporal separation is what divides the Basin’s sucker population into separate species...another study confirming the lack of a genetic difference between shortnose and largescale suckers in the Lost River Basin won’t have an immediate effect on management practices there, particularly as it pertains to ESA implementation..."

Dry year intensifies focus on California groundwater, by Danny Merkley, director of water resources for the California Farm Bureau, posted to KBC 3/30/21. "...In 2014, the state Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, the most sweeping water management legislation in 100 years...

Amicus brief United States v. Cooley filed in the U.S. Supreme Court explains why Klamath Project irrigators lost the 20+ year takings lawsuit filed by counsel who never had the chance of winning, Lawrence Kogan, Kogan Law Group 3/20/2021

Wood River rancher sells water right to help downstream refuges, H&N, posted to KBC 3/20/21. "The Wood River Valley rancher...proposed selling 4,500 acre-feet of his water right to the refuge...CWA is in the process of lobbying the federal government to eventually purchase the full 30,000 acre-feet, which could cost up to $60 million. That could easily be funded by Congress... a 30,000 acre-feet delivery would allow Lower Klamath to support an additional 3,000 acres of grain, 1,000 acres of pasture, 2,000 acres of permanent wetlands and 4,600 acres of other wetlands..." Go HERE for the previous 100,000 acres of agricultural land acquisition by the U.S. government: "One ranch at a time, Government agencies and TNC promised that these farm and ranch acquisitions would save water, improve water quality, benefit fish, and store water for the rest of the irrigators and put more water into the Klamath River. The opposite is true..."  KBC NOTE: Our refuges were designed to receive water after it was pumped through the Klamath Reclamation Project. This amount was substantial until the government-mandated instream-required-water-for-fish skyrocketed. Water for fish = less or no water for birds and 489 species of wildlife, and farmers. Thus, when the Klamath Project gets it's full delivery, the runoff water goes to the refuges. This Project water historically was in a closed basin until Reclamation blasted a tunnel through Sheepy Ridge to supply Lower Klamath Refuge and keep farms from flooding. Pacific Power raised Project power rate more than 2000%, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuses to pay the $100's of thousands power costs for D Plant to pump water into Lower Klamath Refuges from the Project.

Haaland OK'd at Interior, 1st Native American Cabinet head, Capital Press, posted to KBC 3/18/21. "...Some Republican senators have criticized Haaland's views on oil drilling and other energy development as “radical” and extreme, citing her opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and her support for the Green New Deal...“Rep. Haaland has chosen to ignore the science and the scientists of the very department that she is now nominated to lead,'' Barrasso said, calling on Interior to remove protections for the grizzly under the Endangered Species Act..."

Further arguments loom in Klamath re-quantification ruling, Capital Press, posted to KBC 3/18/21. "...Because the judge’s legal opinion from last month hasn’t yet been reduced to an order, that means the Klamath tribes can enforce their water rights to shut off irrigation in the meantime..."

Klamath Project Water is currently unavailable from Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, Bureau Of Reclamation Notice to Project irrigators, 3/12/21. "This letter is to notify you that water is currently unavailable from Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) and the Klamath River for irrigation purposes within the Klamath Project (Project) for the reasons further explained below. Accordingly, your district is hereby directed to delay diversions of water from UKL and the Klamath River until further notice..."

Meet Interior's new water lawyer Daniel Cordalis, Greenwire, posted to KBC 3/12/21. "Cordalis went on to work for Earthjustice, a leading environmental law and advocacy firm." (KBC NOTE - Soros-funded Earthjustice provides legal services for the coalition of NGO's and tribes against Klamath irrigators, as well as other Klamath Basin resource users: loggers, miners, ranchers.)  "On behalf of the Yurok, Cordalis filed multiple lawsuits challenging the Trump Reclamation's management of the Klamath project."

Klamath Irrigation District updated Klamath water supply tracking charts at http://klamathirrigation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/WaterManagementUpdate_202103.pdf

Commissioners declare another drought for Klamath Basin, H&N 3/10/21. "Approximately 130,000 acre-feet are expected to be allocated from Upper Klamath Lake to the Klamath Project for this growing season, a number even lower than last year and only enough to satisfy about a third of project demand."

Oregon’s new carbon cap program takes shape, but much debate remains, Oregonian 3/10/21. "...to reduce Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions by 45% below 1990 levels by 2035 and 80% below those levels by 2050..."

How soil moisture impacts water availability in the Klamath Basin, posted to KBC 3/10/2021

Notice of Application for Transfer of License, Soliciting comments, motions to intervene, and protests. DEADLINE MARCH 19, 2021 for filing comments, motions to intervene and protests

Columbia-Snake River dam breaching opponents preparing resolution, Lewiston Tribune, posted to KBC 3/10/2021. “no amount of money can replace the lifestyle and economies of the communities” that depend on the dams. It describes dam-breaching as an “idealistic” and “illogical” approach to salmon recovery that “flies in the face of reality.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s $33.5 billion plan to remove four dams on the Lower Snake River would hurt the reliability of the region’s power grid and increase rates, a representative of a regional power company says. Capital Press, posted to KBC 3/10/2021. "U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s $33.5 billion plan to remove four dams on the Lower Snake River would hurt the reliability of the region’s power grid and increase rates, a representative of a regional power company says...Roughly 83% of the region’s power is generated by dams, and 11% by nuclear generators...Breaching the four dams would remove 1,000 megawatts of peak capacity from the power grid...One thousand megawatts can power 800,000 homes...Using wind and solar power as the primary sources of energy would raise utility costs, the cost of agricultural inputs and outputs and shipping, and even the cost of removing the dams, Barth said..."

Building Back Better: Building Resilience for the Economy, Climate, and Ecosystems, Family Farm Alliance 3/11/21. Testimony Before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife Oversight Hearing

Democrat Bill introduced to outlaw diesel fuel in Oregon. Super Majority Declares War on Working Class, Oregon House Republican Caucus 3/3/21

Court upholds Klamath Tribes' water rights, irrigators plan to challenge, H&N, posted to KBC 3/1/2020. "...Paul Simmons, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, said Klamath Project irrigators are largely unaffected by the decision, as a settlement prevents the Tribes from using water rights in Oregon to curtail deliveries to the Project from Upper Klamath Lake..."

Klamath Irrigation District Special Winter Edition, February 2021: KID litigation, Drought, Interior Opinion, OWRD litigation, 2021 water year analysis, etc...

New Court Ruling Could Prevent Curtailments of Irrigation in Upper Klamath Lake Tributaries, KWUA News Advisory, posted to KBC 3/1/2021. "The ruling has no immediate consequences for Klamath Project irrigators. Administratively-recognized water rights in Upper Klamath Lake cannot be asserted against the Klamath Project under an agreement made several years ago. Klamath Project irrigators have the right to contest the quantification of that right later in the court phase."

Oregon Court Affirms Klamath Tribes’ Water Rights, Klamath Tribes News Release, posted to KBC 3/1/2021. "Wednesday's order...affirmed the senior priority date of the Klamath Tribes’ water rights in the Klamath Basin, and upheld the need to maintain a healthy and productive habitat to meet the Tribes’ treaty right to fish, hunt, trap, and gather..."

Grazing rights rescinded for Hammond ranches, H&N, posted to KBC 3/1/2021
The Hammond family's BLM grazing permits - an easy target for environmental extremist NGO's, Protect the Harvest. "

Dept of Interior NEWS RELEASE - Interior Department Welcomes Newest Members of Leadership Team, Posted to KBC 3/1/21. (Read their Bios!)
* Shakiyya Bland, Ed.D. - Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, Office of the Secretary
* Daniel Cordalis - Deputy Solicitor, Water
* Nada Culver - Deputy Director, Policy and Programs, Bureau of Land Management
* Bryan Newland - Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs

USFWS acts to remove land from critical habitat for owl, CFBF Ag Alert, posted to KBC 3/1/21. "...The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said last week it would revise the designation of critical habitat for the owl, to exclude nearly 3.5 million acres of land in California, Oregon and Washington...The action leaves more than 6.1 million acres of land in the three states designated as critical habitat for the owl, which has been protected under the ESA as a threatened species since 1990."

Upper Klamath Lake forecast looking poor for fish and farms, H&N, posted to KBC 3/1/21. "Klamath Tribes have filed a notice of intent, saying they will sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for violating the Endangered Species Act if Upper Klamath Lake dips below levels outlined in the 2020 biological opinion this spring...'We know that we’re in a very serious situation,' (Klamath Tribal Chairman) Gentry said. 'It looks like there’s going to be very little water, if at all, for irrigation.' ”

Klamath dam removal and the government’s fraudulent survey, by retired judge Bob Kaster for Siskiyou Daily News 2/17/21. "...In my opinion, (the survey) was fraudulent...Dam removal proponents intended to use the survey result to convince the Secretary of the Interior and then the U.S. Congress to authorize dam removal. When Congress didn’t bite, the proponents changed the thrust of their attack to go around Congress and to ram it through unelected bureaucratic agencies instead, such as the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC), and the California Public Utilities Commission, which is where we are now..."

Letter from Rex Cozzalio, Hornbrook, to FERC regarding Klamath Dam removal and license transfer, posted to KBC 2/18/21

Family Farm Alliance Virtual Conference Schedule Feb 28-29, 2021. A wide array of speakers and panelists, a few being FFA Executive Director Dan Keppen, President Pat O'Toole, National Farmer's Union, Farm Bureau, EDF/Environmental Defense Fund, Gov't Affairs and Sustainability, farmers, forest reps, DOI, Cal. Senator Brian Dahle, FWA Nadine Bailey, many more...

Simpson's salmon recovery, (Snake River) dam breaching plan a 'nonstarter,' ag reps say, Capital Press, posted to KBC 2/18/2021. “Unfortunately, the idea of Snake River dam breaching is a non-starter when it comes for how we move cargo and ultimately for our energy portfolio,” she said. Taking out the dams would make that stretch of the Snake River impassable for barge traffic...Stakeholders also say breaching the dams won’t achieve salmon recovery, pointing to fish declines along the West Coast due to ocean temperatures, runoff and other factors...Barging is the most carbon-friendly mode of transportation, Hennings said...Switching to trucks and trains would likely increase carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions by over 1.25 million tons per year..."

PRESS RELEASE and letter to FERC - Opposition to Transfer of Klamath River Hydropower Dams and Their Destruction, by E. Werner Reschke, Oregon St Rep District 56, posted to KBC 2/17/21. "Rep. Reschke has opposed dam removal from beginning concept, as local elections in Siskiyou County, California (2014) and in Klamath County, Oregon (2016) show that 75% of the people directly effected by dam removal oppose this action."

*** Deadline for filing with FERC comments, motions to intervene, and protests to FERC: February 15, 2021.

*   Make your voice count; Write to FERC by Feb 15 regarding Klamath dam removal, Siskiyou Daily News by Chrissie Reynolds, posted to KBC 2/11/21 *   Hornbrook Rancher Rex Cozzalio refutes Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker's claim of no drinking water or significant irrigation diversions downstream of Klamath Dams, by Rex Cozzalio 2/10/2021 Tucker's comment on Klamath Basin Crisis Facebook page was in response to Seattle Times article regarding failures of Elwha dam destruction *   More than 10 years of Klamath Dam Destruction opinions, articles, press releases, polls, videos, letters, speeches. *    FYI, go to this link on more of dam engineer Stephen Koshy's information of the imminent catastrophic collapse of these clay-core hydroelectric dams if there is an attempt to remove them. Included is his biography.

Siskiyou County Water Users Association MOTION TO LEAVE TO INTERVENE for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Klamath (P-2082-063) and Lower Klamath (P-14803) Projects, Regarding Notice of Application for Surrender of License (of Klamath Hydroelectric dams) posted to KBC 2/10/2021

PCFFA Petition for Intervention in FERC Klamath Project (dams) license surrender, posted to KBC 2/10/2021. KBC's PCFFA Page

LaMalfa Praises Bureau of Reclamation’s New Science-Based Regulation of Klamath Basin, posted to KBC 2/10/2021

Oregon Supreme Court: Order denying petition for Writ of Mandamus and dismissing motion to stay, signed by Martha L. Walters, Chief Justice, Supreme Court 2/2/2021. In KID vs OWRD, The supreme court denied OWRD stay. They must abide by Judge Bennett's order and take over the Link River dam and abide by Oregon Law.

Feds reassess Klamath Project water delivery obligations, Capital Press, posted to KBC 2/4/2021. "Agency finds no legal right to curtail water deliveries under ESA, as in the past"...."Biden has nominated Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., as Interior secretary. If confirmed, she would be the first Native American cabinet secretary and head of the Interior Department."

Port Angeles, tribe say Elwha water plant never worked, still doesn’t, Seattle Times 7/16/16. "Two dams built beginning in 1910 on the Elwha backed up large reservoirs that acted as giant settling ponds, and impounded sediment carried by the river during the 100 years the dams were in place. In September 2014, the world’s largest ever dam-removal project was completed and, with the dams out, the river is free, once more, to wander its flood plain, and release sediment..."

Feds plan to update guidance for Klamath Project operations, H&N, posted to KBC 2/4/2021.

Bureau of Reclamation NEWS RELEASE - Reclamation releases water reliability in the West report 1/19/21

KWUA NEWS RELEASE: Bureau of Reclamation updates guidance for Klamath Project Operations under Endangered Species Act and water law 1/19/2021. “...Reclamation has found that it still has duties for species protection, but those duties do not include imposing harmful shortages on irrigation as we have seen in the past...”

Newsom appoints Yurok attorney Amy Cordalis of McKinleyville to California Water Commission, Times Standard, posted to KBC 1/19/2021. "...Cordalis is a member of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation Board of Directors..."

KID wins again, Oregon Court of Appeals, KID vs OWRD posted 1/17/2021. OWRD's/Oregon Water Resources Department's motion for stay is now "moot". Judge Bennett's order, that OWRD must not allow stored water in Klamath Lake reserved for irrigation to be illegally used or dumped into the ocean, is not currently appealable.

Matthew 5:9 - "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God"

***ANOTHER WIN FOR KID / KLAMATH IRRIGATION DISTRICT, KID vs OWRD:
Judge Bennett Order on Motion for Reconciliation posted to KBC 1/12/20. DENIED. Judge Bennett's ORDER: "Respondents' (OWRD) Motion restates their misapprehension of this courts Orders in 20CV17922 and 20CV15606. Respondents' accepted exclusive jurisdiction over the UKL pursuant to ORS 540.210. Respondents are required by that statute to divide and distribute the water therefrom in accordance with the respective and relative rights of the various users. Despite this statutory obligation, Respondents have continued to allow the Bureau of Reclamation to take Stored Water without determining the Bureau's right to do so. The Respondents continue to violate the Oregon Water Rights Act by allowing the Bureau to take and use Stored Water in the UKL without determining it is entitled to do so as required by ORS 540.210. Respondents must stop the release until a determination is made pursuant to ORS 540.740. Nothing in the Court's Order dictates how the Respondents make the determination or what criteria is used. TPC, LLC v. OWRD, 308 Or.App. 177 is not analogous or factually similar to this case. MAKE A DETERMINATION"

FERC/Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 12/16/20 NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR SURRENDER OF LICENSE, posted 1/12/21. This is notice from FERC re request by KRRC and PacifiCorp to transfer license AND DECOMMISSION Klamath River hydroelectric dams.
*** Deadline for filing comments, motions to intervene, and protests to FERC: February 15, 2021

Farmers make crop plans amid dry early winter, CFBF Ag Alert, posted to KBC 1/12/2021. "For the federal Klamath Water Project straddling the California-Oregon border, farmer Ben DuVal of Tulelake said he is hopeful 2021 will be a better year. Last year, Klamath farmers were affected after project operators unexpectedly cut already-low allocations in response to concerns about protected fish; the cuts were ultimately restored. "Things have been so bad here on the Klamath Project, and it doesn't have to be this way," DuVal said. "We use 3% of the water out of the Klamath River and we take that small percentage and do a lot of good with it. We put a lot of people to work and produce a lot of amazing crops. People are going to have to eventually realize that all the problems on the Klamath River cannot be blamed solely on the Klamath Project, and that we can move on from some of the issues that we've been dealing with."

ODFW formally assumes management of gray wolf in Oregon 1/5/21

For December 2020 chronological news, see Archive 223

For Main Archive Page go HERE.

God Bless America !