Water Management

Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong compares California water plan with Klamath dam-removal Agreement, Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, 7/24/08

CA New Water Governance Paradigm; information, sent by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 7/21/08
Comments on Statewide Watershed Program, by Marcia H. Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor District 5, posted to KBC 7/21/08

Rationing signals grim times for water out West, by Dan Keppen, Executive Director of Family Farm Alliance, 2/29/08, H&N. "...government regulations and court-ordered directives favoring fish over farmers will put the screws to San Joaquin communities this summer.  Because farmland within Westlands Water District — ground zero in the current crisis — accounts for 20 percent of the $5 billion agricultural production of Fresno County (the nation’s No. 1 farm county), the potential economic impacts will dwarf the 2001 Klamath crisis."

Central Valley farmers adjusting to drought, CVBT 6/24/08

Columbia River: Salmon win in this dam legal battle, Capital Press editorial 4/25/08. "It's a fact that some environmental groups won't be happy until every dam is removed from every salmon stream and river in the West. Whether that's practical is, for them, not a concern. They simply don't seem to be willing to accept any alternatives. For them, it's an all-or-nothing proposition."

Water obligations will be met, Reclamation expects to make full deliveries to irrigators, H&N posted to KBC 4/14/07

PRESS RELEASE Reclamation : Klamath Project 2007 Operations Plan Released; Supplies Expected to Meet all Responsibilities, 4/9/07. "Reclamation has developed access to supplemental water of up to 100,000 acre-feet, if it is required, to meet Project needs...the WSES water comprises off-stream storage, land idling, and ground-water pumping."

Growth threatens water, H&N 3/1/07. "Addington said irrigators are frustrated that the matrix gives them less water in average-water years than in low-water years."

Recommendation for Big Look Task Force; Water, Paper or Planning? by Tamra Mabbott, Umatilla County Planning Director,October, 2006
Oregon's water management plan, Oregon State Senator Doug Whitsett responds to above recommendation, 11/28/06 "Her (Mabbott's) proposals, taken as a whole, represent the largest expansion of Oregon’s police powers since the 1973 passage of Senate Bill 100, the land use planning statute. Six of her specific policy proposals appear to oppose the interests of agriculture and the interests of many municipalities."

Project aims to mend lake shore, H&N, posted to KBC 7/3/06 "Mark Buettner, a fisheries biologist for FWS, acknowledged the lake level does not currently meet the biological opinion's requirement. But he said the agency has OK'd the temporary discrepancy, which was due to circumstances beyond Reclamation's control. Analyses by Reclamation and FWS conclude the current level will provide adequate sucker habitat this year."

Interior and Yurok Tribe announce agreement to improve management of Klamath River Basin, posted to KBC 6/29/06.

Common sense left out of Klamath water plans, Capital Press Steve Cheyne posted to KBC 12/25/05

Bureau Commissioner John Keyes 'On Point', July 19, 2005, transcript.

Reclamation Managing Water in the West articles for 6/24/05

Wrangling Water, International water experts and officials gather in Boise to discuss rising demands and decreasing supplies, Headwaters News 6/22/05 (Family Farm Alliance Dan Keppen and BOR Commissioner John Keyes were amongst the panelists.)

Water-use measurement bill clears Senate, Capital Press 6/13/05.(In California in certain regions, this type bill led to landowners being charged over $100/acre foot for their own groundwater. KBC)

Whitsett has good reason to be wary, Herald and News editorial 6/8/05. "Rural Oregon should be afraid of such things because they put weapons in the hands of urban residents who have little knowledge about such things as agriculture and responsible use of resources."

Rural Oregonians fear bill SB731 is threat to their water rights, Seattle Times 5/30/05. (BEWARE: there are places in California that private property owners must pay over $100 per acre foot for their own water. This will erode your property right to your water. KBC)

Alliance: ‘Mining’ ag water becoming default water policy for urban growth, Wyoming Livestock Roundup 5/7/05 "Quotes from Family Farm Alliance president Pat O’Toole and Chairman of the Board, Bill Kennedy on the importance of enhancing Western water supplies."

Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA unveils water action plan for California, "No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water" pdf file. HERE for summary.

2 H&N articles on the Klamath Conservation Implementation Plan, 10/25/04, 'Focus sought for water program', and 'Bureau takes new program for test drive.'

Klamath Water Users Association weekly update October 14, 2004. Go to Klamath Water Users Association update 101404 for update:
* Klamath Water Users Applaud Signing of Landmark Watershed Agreement
* Interior Secretary Announces Klamath Watershed Coordination Agreement
* Complete Text of the Klamath River Watershed Coordination Agreement
* Klamath County Commissioner Clarifies the Record for ONRC

10/14/04: Attached are local, regional and national news articles regarding yesterday's announcement of the historic Klamath River Watershed Coordination Agreement:
1. Associated Press
2. Los Angeles Times
3. The Oregonian (Portland)
4. Eureka Times-Standard
5. Redding Record Searchlight

Hands across the Basin, H&N 10/14/04

PRESS RELEASE: Interior Secretary Gale Norton Announces Klamath Watershed Coordination Agreement, Office of the Secretary 10/13/04.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Klamath Water Users Applaud Signing of Landmark Watershed Agreement 10/13/04

Cal-Fed Authorization, NCWA-Northern California Water Association pdf., October 8, 2004.

Klamath Basin  Water Management, by Dr Doug Whitsett, AgLifeNW Magazine 7/19/04.