Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
Our Klamath Basin
Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
|
Lake remains well above required levels Herald and News, September 3, 2003, by Dylan Darling Federal water managers say Upper Klamath Lake should remain well above the level required to protect endangered suckers as the summer comes to a close. The lake's water level was the focus of intense debate in June and July, when inflow to the lake dropped suddenly and officials wrangled over whether to classify the year as "dry" or "below average." At one point, the Bureau of Reclamation told irrigators in the Klamath Project that they would be cut off from water supplies. That decision was rescinded, but water levels remained a concern through July. The Herald and News for most of the past two months published a lake level chart on weekdays. Today is the last day the chart will appear on page 2. The newspaper will continue to publish a weekly update of lake levels and river flows in the Agriculture section each Wednesday. Upper Klamath Lake exceeded its required mark for Aug 31 by more then half a foot. The lake on Sunday was measured at 4,139.66 feet above sea level. The minimum for Sunday's date was 4,139.00 feet. Had the minimum not been met, the Bureau of Reclamation could have been found in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The minimum lake elevation for Sept. 30 is 4,138.2 feet. The Bureau should be able to maintain the buffer of extra water through September, said Cecil Lesley, project chief for land and water operations. He said net inflows to the lake have improved, probably because of cooler temperatures and less irrigation demand. "You just get a combination of conditions that add up to more net inflow in the lake," Lesley said. But the net inflows into the lake have not been sufficient to change the year type again. Net inflows, lake levels and year type were at the heart of the drama neat the end of June. At the time, it looked like the lake would miss its water level target for the end of the month because of plummeting net inflow. The drop almost forced the Bureau to shut down the project for several days. After telling irrigators it was going to have to do so on June 25, the Bureau reached an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that lowered the lake level target needed for the end of the month, and kept the project going, but irrigators were asked to cut their use of water by about a quarter. Only July 10, the Bureau reclassified the water year as "dry," which allowed the agency to drain more water from the lake. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml |
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