State of emergency: More than 100 wells now dry in
Klamath County, H&N 11/8/22.
KBC NOTE: Wells have gone dry in the Modoc and
Siskiyou Counties in the Klamath Project too. The Bureau
of Reclamation withheld from farms our stored
irrigation water in Klamath Lake far above the
Endangered Species Act mandates for 2 species of
suckers. That water supplies irrigation water to
thousands of acres of Klamath Project farms, that then
goes to our National Wildlife Refuges which the Bureau
also dewatered, decimating habitat for 433 species of
wildlife. More than 1000 miles of drain ditches and
canals exist in the Klamath Reclamation Project
supplying habitat and water for the most important stop
on the Pacific Flyway for migrating birds. Dewatered.
When our surface water is diverted to the ocean, our
wells go dry, and farmers are penalized for depleting
the aquifer. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, our refuges provided habitat for more than
10,000 years. Until now.
Reclamation
extends interim operations plan for Klamath Project,
Capital Press 10/21/22. "Both
the Klamath Water Users Association and Klamath Tribes
urged Reclamation to discard the plan after it was set
to expire Sept. 30...Simmons,
with the KWUA, previously said the changes authorized
under the interim operations plan were “far above any
level ever claimed to be necessary” for suckers, while
cutting off access to another 45,000 acre-feet of water
for irrigation."
Oregon
expands targets under Clean Fuels Program, Capital
Press 10/21/22. "The
governor-appointed Environmental Quality Commission
voted unanimously in September to expand the Clean Fuels
Program...When the program was first implemented in
2016, it called for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
from transportation fuels 10% below 2015 levels by 2025.
The new targets are 20% below 2015 levels by 2030, and
37% by 2035. To accomplish this, fuel distributors may
choose to import more lower-carbon biofuels such as
ethanol or renewable diesel — made from vegetable oil —
to replace gasoline or diesel."
Feds
give Oregon groups $100 million for sustainable farming,
ranching, timber, Oregon Capital Chronicle 10/10/22. Sustainable
Northwest: "The nonprofit conservation
group received $10 million to invest in regenerative
ranching economies and another $25 million grant to
build a sustainable wood products economy in the
region." Who is
SustainableNW?
Richard
Roos-Collins
represented American Rivers, California Trout, and
Sustainable Northwest in the negotiation of the
Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement and he
negotiated and drafted the
KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement; both
agreements mandate destroying Klamath River
hydroelectric dams. Sustainable NW and
Trout
Unlimited,
were among the groups who appointed Roos-Collins as
general council on KRRC/Klamath dam destruction group.
* Trout
Unlimited Water Project Director
is Chrysten
Lambert, who was Klamath River Compact
Commissioner and was former Klamath Basin Rangeland
Trust / KBRT director. Her father Jim Root founded KBRT.
KBRT merged with Trout Unlimited, and Root is also now a
board of director on KRRC dam removal group.
* Trout Unlimited was a stakeholder in the KBRA/dam
removal closed-door "agreements.'
*
Only FERC will decide dam removal, not Klamath River
Compact Commission, Guest Opinion by RICHARD ROOS-COLLINS
General Counsel, KRRC, Herald and News Online 5/10/19. ""The
JC Boyle Dam in Klamath County, Ore., is one of four
slated to be removed from the Klamath River under a
Memorandum of Understanding between the Klamath County
Commission and the Klamath River Renewal Corp."
*A
response to the general counsel of KRRC: Why Klamath
Compact decision-making matters,
by
SCWUA attorney JAMES BUCHAL, guest opinion for H&N
5/13/19. "FERC’s
own regulations (18 C.F.R. § 9.2) require FERC to
determine the “qualifications of the transferee [here,
KRRC] to hold such license.” KRRC is not qualified,
because it was created in violation of federal law."
posted to KBC 10/25/22
Klamath ranch seeks $1.5 million from
Oregon water regulators,
Capital Press 10/28/22.
"The state Water Resources
Department affirmed the 1864 priority date and the
ranch’s right to divert 9.4 cubic feet of water per
second between March and November, enough to irrigate
the property at a depth of three feet per acre a
year...The ranch has since been “regulated off” every
year, generally shutting down irrigation “earlier and
earlier” each season...the ranch’s carrying capacity was
previously 200 head of cattle, it’s now only able to
sustain 50 head due to the lack of irrigation..."
