03/01/05   - The Tulelake Growers Association (TGA) is sponsoring a meeting with Federal, State and County Farm Service Agency officials.  The purpose of the meeting is to inform producers that they may be eligible for additional benefits from the re-initiation of the 2001 Crop Disaster Program.  This program has been revised based upon successful appeals regarding eligibility.  The meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2005 and to read the TGA's press release, please go here.

 

An AP story out today headlined Low salmon stocks mean fishing cutbacks in NW California and Oregon states, "Fisheries managers say ocean salmon fishing seasons for Northern California and Oregon face sharp cutbacks this year to protect low projected returns of Klamath River wild chinook, a perennial weak spot in efforts to rebuild West Coast salmon runs."  But the most interesting quote in the article is this:  "California Department of Fish and Game biologist Neil Manji said the 2002 fish kill that left tens of thousands of adult fish rotting on the banks of the Klamath after succumbing to disease in low warm water is not a likely cause of the low projections.  A more likely one is the increasing numbers of young fish succumbing to parasites as they migrate to the ocean."

 

02/28/05   - In Sunday's edition of the Sacramento Bee Newspaper was an article headlined Klamath farmers, fish at crossroads - A utility's plan to end a longtime power subsidy could mean less water going to agriculture. The article includes: "Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp, whose vast six-state service area includes the Klamath basin, overlapping southern Oregon and Northern California, wants to end subsidized power rates next year for 1,300 irrigators that have been virtually unchanged since the power started flowing in 1917."

 

For future reference to any news article that contains information on the continuing struggle in the Upper Klamath Basin, check out our You Need to Know - A History of the Klamath Water Crisis.  We've posted several Klamath Herald and News articles about the recent water adjudication claim settlement between the Klamath Tribes and ranchers above Upper Klamath Lake.

 

PacifiCorp proposes to raise Klamath irrigators' power fees 2500 percent of the current contractual rate by 2006.  Klamath Water Users will hold a public update meeting that will cover electrical power discussions,  water supply conditions, and opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of Klamath Basin farms at the Klamath County Fairgrounds starting at 1:30 PM.

 

USGS gauged inflows from the Williamson River into Upper Klamath Lake show 780 cubic feet per second (cfs) this morning while outflows through the Link River are at 270 cfs.

 

Due to storms in the Upper Klamath Basin which includes a southerly wind pushing the lake elevation up and down, Current elevation of Upper Klamath Lake:  down .01 from last Monday

Elevation above NGVD 1929, feet
	Most recent value: 4,142.20   02-28-2005  05:00

Source:  http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv/?site_no=11507001&PARAmeter_cd=00062,72020

Check out other USGS Flow Gauges in the Klamath Basin

 

Please note that we have started posting a USGS "weighted" elevation graph that takes into account the three different gauges on Upper Klamath Lake - Rocky Point, Rattlesnake, and Pelican Point.

 

 

02/25/05   -  How much do you know about Invasive Species?  Fred Grau of State College, PA has come up with an informative and entertaining quiz to find out how much you understand about how Federal agencies use President Clinton’s “Invasive Species” Executive Order No. 13112 to add more control over private property rights.  Take the quiz here and also check out our You Need To Know - Invasive Species Act Index

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The Klamath Falls Herald and News published an article on February 23, 2005 headlined Water forecasts bode a tight supply this season.  "This is going to be a really tight year," Dave Sabo, Bureau Project manager said.  Water users need to be ready if the weather doesn't cooperate with improving streamflow forecasts, he said. They should plan their crops accordingly and be prepared to take conservation measures.

 

Past Executive Director of the Klamath Water Users Association, Dan Keppen has written One Hundred Years of the Klamath Project: Conserving our Resources, Preserving our Heritage.  2005 marks the one hundred-year birthday of the second oldest federal water project in the western United States – the Klamath Irrigation Project

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Why would Steve Baccus, President of the Kansas Farm Bureau write an article called Defending my life: Farmers give more than they take to defend crop subsidies?  Because non-farmers don't understand how farm subsidies work and how they relate to the federal governments international trade policy.  They also don't understand that farm subsidies keep the price of a loaf of bread low for the American consumer.  Find the link to his article on our You Need to Know - The Truth Index.  Here's a snippet from the article:  "It's no secret that Congress, just like several state legislatures, is skewing urban/suburban. A majority of members of Congress haven't a clue about the life my family leads in Ottawa County, Kan.  It's a life based on a love of the land, a passion for agriculture and the values handed down through the generations in a small, rural community."

 

From an e.thePeople discussion forum, we've posted Ag-grevation: Are crop subsidies rural welfare or a domestic investment?   Check out comments like this:  "The subsidy programs were designed to support small farmers with families so that they could float. [But] the small farm and small community culture is gone. People think that they should just sell some of their land and they'll be rich. Wrong. It goes in a hurry...and it's not easy to sell something that you love so much."