Archive 227 - April 2021
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APRIL
2001
- when Klamath irrigators were informed that they could
not have their deeded irrigation water; for the first
time ever in known history their land and wetlands were
denied water. KLAMATH BASIN CRISIS - ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT GONE WRONG from: Chris Moudry, Basin Fertilizer, Merrill, OR, April 2001. "I am writing this memo for insight to what can happen when the Endangered Species Act and environmental extremism come together and attack personal property rights. You may think, “Not in America!” Read our story..."
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Wish List for Suckers Nails Farms, USFWS proposal 1992 KDD diversion continues, Reclamation could release more lake water in response, H&N, 4/30/21. “In the past, Reclamation has directed KDD to divert under this state permit when project water isn’t available...On March 30, OWRD declared that stored water in Upper Klamath Lake was not flowing through Link River Dam and that all water available in the river was live flow. Desmond said KDD took that as permission to be able to make diversions in April, and that other private water users along the river in Oregon have similar state permits that allowed them to do the same...the Bureau plans to reduce Upper Klamath Lake levels to make up for KDD’s diversion..."
Oregon's wolves are fine, ranchers not so much, Capital Press 4/29/21. "The population grew 9.5% last year to at least 173 wolves in 22 packs. In 2019, the population grew 15%...state biologists confirmed 31 attacks last year...three wolves in the Rogue Pack were responsible for more than half of those attacks, killing 16 yearling cows in Klamath and Jackson counties.
KWUA seeks further legal clarification on Klamath Project operations, H&N 4/24/21. “As Reclamation admits, it is not adhering to the interim plan,” the motion read. “Non-adherence to the interim plan translates to the severe detriment of KWUA’s members and farm and ranch families served by the Klamath Project..." "KWUA also argued that there are pressing legal issues concerning project operations that must go before a judge, particularly in light of court cases in Oregon that have found that Reclamation does not have the authority to satisfy ESA requirements (whether through sending water downriver or keeping it in Upper Klamath Lake) at the expense of Project irrigators..." Klamath Basin solutions for us "racist" farmers by Frankie Meyers, Vice Chairman of the Yurok Tribe, 140 miles west of our farms, "...You are always in the right if you're telling your government officials to give land back to indigenous communities..." A ten minute video well worth your time. Klamath Water Users Association brings legal challenge to Klamath Project operations, KWUA News Release 4/22/21. "Klamath Water Users Association filed court papers to re-open a lawsuit and seek a ruling that the Bureau of Reclamation’s current approach to regulating water deliveries for the Klamath Project is illegal. KWUA filed a motion in federal court asking the court to lift a stay of existing litigation and then rule on critical legal issues that affect irrigation water availability...The Yurok Tribe and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) sued the Bureau of Reclamation and National Marine Fisheries Service for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) related to Project operations that had been adopted to control Project operations from 2019-2024...."
Wolf population continues to grow in Oregon, Capital Press 4/22/21. "The 2020 population is a 9.5% increase over the end of 2019, when ODFW recorded at least 158 wolves...ODFW confirmed 31 livestock depredations in 2020, up 94% from 2019. However, 16 of those were attributed to the Rogue pack, whose range straddles Jackson and Klamath counties in southwest Oregon..." Whitehouse Briefing: Readout of the Third National Climate Task Force Meeting, 4/21/21. "...In areas like the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California, lake levels today are lower than occurred during the Dust Bowl..." KBC Fact Check: before the dams, when this was mostly a closed basin, sometimes Link River went dry, so the lake is NOT at its lowest. "$78 million in grants ... will provide the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners the ability to help conserve or restore nearly 500,000 acres of wetland and associated upland habitats...The grants...will be matched by more than $120 million in partner funds. Partners in NAWCA projects include private landowners, states, local governments, conservation organizations, sportsmen’s groups, Tribes, land trusts and corporations." Oregon gun storage law would be among the toughest in the US, H&N, 4/20/21 Klamath farmers are frustrated, up against a wall, Siskiyou Daily News: Liz Writes Life: 4/20/21. Photo: Upper Klamath Lake is nearly to the brim. "the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced that the Klamath Project will receive about six percent of its needed irrigation water for more than 220,000 acres in the Project...That hurts a lot of farmers and also means six wildlife refuges will lose water that gives life to 433 species, including ESA-listed bald eagles. Also, the Klamath Bureau of Reclamation announced it would not allow any irrigation until after May 15..." 2021. KDD begins water deliveries, Reclamation orders it to cease, H&N 4/17/21. "According to a news release from KDD, the district acquired the permit from the Oregon Water Resources Department in 1977 for the use of live flow from the Klamath River for irrigation." Bureau of Reclamation: “If KDD does not cease all diversions at the Ady and North canals as soon operationally feasible, in due course (1) Reclamation staff will access Reclamation-owned property to close the gates to the Ady Canal, (2) water users within the KDD boundary may not be eligible for Drought Relief Act funds, and (3) the United States may take other legal action against KDD and its members.”
Fishermen, Tribes brace for another abysmal salmon
season, H&N 4/17/21.
Glen Spain, the Northwest
regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of
Fishermen’s Associations, has sued the Klamath Basin
irrigators against our water quality, against us keeping
our affordable power rate, and against us in the takings
case saying we should not be compensated for the
government taking our deeded water appurtenant to our
land. 4th generation Tulelake rancher Lucky Ackley's feelings on Klamath Basin water shutoff 4/16/21.
Joint Klamath Basin Relief Request to President Biden
from Klamath River Tribes, Pacific Coast Federation of
Fishermen, and Non Governmental Agencies That Support
Klamath Hydro Dam Destruction 4/16/21
4/15/21 - Today the Bureau of Reclamation released their verdict of 32,000 acre feet of irrigation water for the entire Klamath Reclamation Project to be available in June. At this public meeting KWUA President Ben DuVal had to break the devastating news to the community because the Bureau of Reclamation refused to attend. Congressman LaMalfa’s office attended as well as elected officials from Modoc and Siskiyou Counties. There might be a possibility of another small amount of water this fall, if the tribal lawsuits fail to shut us down completely. VIDEO KWUA 2021 Operations Meeting, April 15, 2021. https://kwua.org/kwua-2021-operations-meeting/ Klamath Basin irrigation water outlook 2021, Shut Down & Fed Up Facebook page 4/12/21 Klamath Water Users Association statement regarding DOI withdrawal of updated Klamath Project legal guidance, KWUA Press Release 4/8/21. "(Previous legal guidance: "...the only legally authorized use of water stored in Upper Klamath Lake is irrigation.." )
Little to No water for Klamath Project Farms in 2021, Klamath Water Users Association 4/8/21 Final order prohibiting release of stored irrigation water, OWRD / Oregon Water Resources Dept, 4/6/21 KID/Klamath Irrigation District page The History of Good Friday, Harvest, 4/2/21 KID Letter to Patrons of Klamath Irrigation District and our stakeholders, including water status, Bureau of Reclamation bleak irrigation water forecast, and KID lawsuit 4/2/21. Bureau of Reclamation's threat to KID / Klamath Irrigation District 4/2/2021. Letter from Bureau of Reclamation to Klamath Irrigation District attorney Nathan Rietmann, threatening KID with federal court and "potential suspension or exclusion from the drought relief funding program this year..." if KID so much as takes their stored irrigation water from Klamath Lake, "even to charge the canals." Klamath Project Water Availability from Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, Bureau of Reclamation 4/2/21. "Reclamation now anticipates this delay to be at least through May 1, 2021, and likely further in time..."
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