"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 Basin Settlement Page including current Klamath Dam removal settlement efforts and failed KBRA/Klamath Basin Restoration "Agreement" and related Klamath Dam Removal settlement agreements, articles, letters, videos, press releases, documents, and Who's Who

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

Oregon governor calls for breaching 4 Snake River dams, H&N 2/16/20. "...The dams generate electricity, provide some irrigation and flood control and allow barges to operate all the way to Lewiston, Idaho..."
Columbia-Snake River litigation has 90,000-plus acres in balance, Fruit Growers News 1/24/20

WHY - Rep Reschke among walkouts from Cap and Trade Bill, H&N 2/16/20. "Thursday’s early exit from a critical House policy committee, was done in protest to the fact that the committee purposely did not hear any public testimony on a highly controversial bill, or provide time to discuss among committee members regarding the policy of the bill." “We have tried to engage with our colleagues on this issue, but have repeatedly been denied the opportunity to represent our districts in this conversation. Cap and trade will raise costs of living on all Oregonians, drive business out of the state, and hand control over to unelected bureaucrats. Oregonians are being denied access..."

Merkley facilitates follow-up summit on sucker recovery, H&N, posted to KBC 2/17/20. "Merkley has delivered $23.5 million to the Basin since 2013 to find a way toward a solution..."
KBC NOTE: Did Merkley address the fact that our government spent millions of $ to build manmade islands in our Klamath basin refuges: to lure fish-eating Caspian Terns from the Columbia that were eating millions of tiny salmon? Now tiny suckers? "...the Columbia River has been responsible for around 15 million to 20 million salmon smolts being eaten annually. The cormorant population growing on East Sand Island is estimated to be responsible for an additional 11 million young salmon each year." More articles on Refuge Page. Did he address the fact that the NRC Chairman Dr William Lewis Jr stated at a Klamath Science Workshop: "Lewis explained that the suckers were listed since 1988 because of over harvest.  They stopped fishing in '87 but they did not recover. The lake has gone from 3' range under natural conditions to experiencing 6' deep in current dry years. With charts and graphs he showed the habitat and water quality, algae and chlorophyll. He said that the committee looked extensively at water levels, and they find 'no hint of a relationship'. He also said that there was no relationship between lower water levels and extreme ph levels. And "the committee cannot support the idea that water levels effect algae growth.' "It can not be achieved by lake levels." '92 was the lowest water year, and they expected it to be the least favorable for fish. 'The lowest water year produced the same amount of larvae as other years.  He said that fish kill information does not support that fish are dying by changing water level." Here for KBC's Science Page

Environmentalists And Timber Industry Reach Agreement On Forests, Avoiding Oregon Ballot Fights, OPB, posted to KBC 2/17/2020.

February 2, 2020 - Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven

Klamath dam removal draws closer, KRRC awaits FERC decision in March, H&N 1/28/2020.  According to KRRC Community Liason, “None of the water that is stored in hydroelectric reservoirs is used for agriculture,” he said. “It’s not used for municipal diversions. It’s not used for farms and ranchers – that water is used to produce hydro-power.”

EPA News Release: More Widespread Support for EPA and Army's Navigable Waters Protection Rule – A New Definition of WOTUS, 1/24/2020
"Congressman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01): "The Obama Administration’s ill-advised attempt to expand the WOTUS definition left a major burden on private landowners and farmers. I commend President Trump for empowering state and local governments to protect water resources by establishing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. This is a common-sense change that gives landowners the flexibility to maintain their own land without overreaching federal input."
"House Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Greg Walden (OR-02): "For years, farmers and ranchers across Oregon have expressed their concerns to me about the heavy-handed Obama-era definition of WOTUS. They stressed that their intermittent stream or irrigation ditch would be subject to the burden of overreaching federal regulation. The EPA’s new definition of WOTUS will both protect our environment and our rural communities. Today’s announcement is welcome news for rural Oregon. I applaud President Trump and his administration for listening to the concerns of America’s farmers and ranchers and delivering on the promise to revise WOTUS."

Farmers welcome new federal rule on water quality WOTUS, CFBF 1/29/2020. "...The new rule also describes what is not subject to federal control, such as features that only contain water due to rainfall; groundwater; many ditches; prior converted cropland; farm and stock watering ponds; and waste treatment systems..."

Senator Jeff Merkley needs to talk to Klamath ranchers, by Bill and Nedra Boyd, Chiloquin, for H&N 1/29/2020. "With no real substantial solutions to this problem since 2013, Sen. Jeff Merkley is now adding another $11 million to the Basin plus $5.1 million to the Klamath River this year, to be added to the $23.5 million given to the Basin in 2013 for this study...Until the facts are in place and it is a water issue, the Tribes and OWRD should not be able to shut off the water in the Basin."

LaMalfa Praises Senate for USMCA Passage, LaMalfa News Release 1/16/20
USMCA:
  *   180,000 jobs created
  *   $70 billion increase to our GDP
  *   $20 billion more exports to Mexico
  *   $15 billion more exports to Canada
California exported $48.5 billion in goods to Canada and Mexico in 2018
  *   Mexico: $30.7 billion
  *   Canada: $17.8 billion

* Comments Due February 7, 2020 - http://waterresilience.ca.gov State Agencies Release Draft Water Resilience Portfolio.   "The California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Food and Agriculture developed the draft to fulfill Governor Gavin Newsom’s April 29 executive order calling for a portfolio of actions to ensure the state’s long-term water resilience and ecosystem health.
  2020 Water Resilience Portfolio - http://waterresilience.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/California-Water-Resilience-Portfolio-2019-Final2.pdf : Manage groundwater, assist in Klamath Dam Removal, plan for climate change, plan for upcoming 500 million people in California...

New Laws 2020 Edition - California Capitol Update Friday, January 10, 2020, CFRW. "SB 104- California is now the first state in the nation to offer free healthcare to illegal immigrants who are between the ages of 19-25. We already provided this to illegal immigrant children, this is an expansion of that program....Governor Newsom unveiled his 2020 budget this week and it clocked in at $222 billion, the largest spending plan in our state's history...In just a decade, our state budget has grown by almost $90 billion... "Despite the $64 billion in additional Medi-Cal spending, researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research did not detect significant improvements in patient health", according to Assemblyman Kiley. Furthermore, "after a $39 billion increase in education spending, the National Assessment of Educational Progress finds that Californian's 8^th grade math and reading scores continue to decline". And finally, Assemblyman Kiley stated that "despite $7 billion in additional spending on social and welfare programs, the Census Bureau reports California continues to have the highest level of poverty in the nation."

Judge revokes Hammond Ranches grazing permit, Tri-State Livestock News, posted to KBC 1/11/2020

PNWA Press Release - Study: U.S. would lose over $2.3 billion by breaching lower Snake River dams. Loss of dams would also significantly increase carbon emissions and impacts to fragile economies, posted to KBC 1/11/2020.

Court orders EPA to write temperature control plans for Columbia, Snake, Capital Press, posted to KBC 1/11/19. "The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to intensify the ongoing debate over breaching four Lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington to increase salmon and steelhead runs...The plaintiffs...Columbia Riverkeeper, Snake River Waterkeeper, Idaho Rivers United, the (IFFR) Institute for Fisheries Resources and  (PCFFA)Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.."
KBC NOTE: Coincidently PCFFA and it spinoff IFFR, and Riverkeepers are the litigants who strategically constantly sued to downsize Klamath agriculture and destroy the Klamath River dams.

Study Looks at Benefits and Liabilities of Snake River Dams, Intermountain Farm and Ranch, posted to KBC 1/11/2020.

Becky Hyde appointed to ODFW commission, H&N, posted to KBC 1/11/2020.

*Comments Due February 6 regarding Klamath Dam removal on the recirculated portions of the Draft EIR. NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT OF RECIRCULATED PORTIONS OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE LOWER KLAMATH PROJECT LICENSE SURRENDER FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION PROJECT NO. 14803
*California waterboard seeks more feedback on dam removal, H&N, posted to KBC 12/30/19
*FYI: Strategy to form the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement: Cal/EPA Environmental Justice Action Plan May 18, 2005. Lead Agency: State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). "It may be the desire of the Tribes to restore the river to the pre-European settlement condition.... Restoration will likely need to increase flows, which might result in reduced agricultural water supply. To achieve necessary reductions funding may be required to purchase and fallow agricultural lands."

Oregon starts appeals of $1 billion timber verdict, OPB, posted to KBC 12/30/19. "In November, a jury in Linn County ruled that the state breached its contract with 13 rural counties by failing to generate enough revenue through logging on state-owned forests. Jurors awarded more than $1 billion in damages..."

A 'wait and see' world for water users regarding Upper Klamath Basin wells regulated by OWRD, H&N, posted to KBC 12/30/19. "

Court dismisses lawsuit against wolf delisting, H&N, posted to KBC 12/30/19.

Water coalition aims to coordinate conservation efforts, H&N 11/19/19. "The Coalition of the Willing, a group of about 50 to 60 individuals...hired a facilitator whose salary is being financed in part by county funds, with pledges made by state and federal entities....Dan Keppen and Craig Tucker informally chair the stakeholders coalition."
Craig Tucker, Karuk Tribe spokesman, KBRA voting member, and a founder and board member of Klamath Riverkeeper. He joined Green Corps, specialized in community organizing and social justice, outreach director for Friends of the River,  He is Campaign Coordinator for the Karuk Tribe's 'Bring the Salmon Home' campaign. "The goal: removal of four dams on the Klamath River which would represent the largest dam removal project in history."
Dan Keppen: is presently is executive director of Family Farm Alliance and Klamath Water Users Association / KWUA public relations employee. He was engineer and media consultant for the former KWAPA / Klamath Water and Power Agency for KWUA On Project Plan, which was included in the KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.  Keppen was with Northern California Water Association, and employed by the Bureau of Reclamation before coming to Klamath Falls in 2001 to work as executive director of KWUA.

 

For November 2019 chronological news, see Archive 210
For Main Archive Page go HERE.

God Bless America !