kwua-nl-041003

Klamath Water Users Association

Weekly Update

April 10, 2003

White House Official To Be Featured Speaker at 2003 KWUA Annual Meeting

David Anderson, a key player in President Bush’s Klamath Basin Federal Working Group, will be the featured speaker at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) at the Oregon Institute of Technology on April 24th.

“It is an honor to us and a testimony to the Bush Administration’s commitment to our Basin that David Anderson is coming to our meeting”, said Dan Keppen, KWUA Executive Director. “This is an excellent opportunity for our local community to get a true appreciation of what this Administration has done for Klamath Basin farmers and ranchers.”

David Anderson is the Associate Director of Agriculture and Public Lands Issues for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He is the Chairman’s designated lead on the Healthy Forest Initiative, and the Klamath Basin Federal Working Group. Prior to joining CEQ, he was the Senior Counsel for the non-profit group the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Duke University.

Anderson will provide an overview of the Klamath Basin actions undertaken by the Administration in the past year, particularly since President Bush’s task force was established in early 2002. Local water user representatives will also describe the proactive – and often overlooked – conservation measures undertaken by Basin irrigators and landowners since two species of sucker fish were listed under the Endangered Species Act in the late 1980’s. The meeting will also feature presentations made by KWUA consultants that will focus on federal political issues, ongoing litigation, and new biological perspectives on the 2002 lower Klamath River fish die-off.

KWUA 49th ANNUAL MEETING

April 24, 2003
7:00 p.m.

Oregon Institute of Technology
Campus Union Building Auditorium
Klamath Falls, Oregon

Please R.S.V.P. With Jo Ann Rogers at KWUA
Phone: (541)-883-6100

“Takings” Hearing Rescheduled

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has rescheduled a hearing to hear oral arguments on the U.S. government’s motion to stay Klamath Irrigation District, et al. v. The United States for May 5, 2003 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Judge Diane Sypolt had originally scheduled a status conference to be held in Washington, D.C. on April 29. The hearing was rescheduled, in part, to accommodate attorneys representing water users appearing before another court case scheduled in Oakland, California on the same day.

“Hopefully, this will also give time for more of our people to get their airfare to attend this meeting,” said Roger Marzulla, attorney for the plaintiffs. “We need as many people as possible to come.”

This litigation – commonly referred to as the Klamath “takings” case – was filed by a group of Klamath Basin businesses, special districts and landowners in 2001 after federal decisions on Klamath Project operations that year curtailed Upper Klamath Lake water available for irrigation.

Klamath Project Operations Call For A Dry Water Year

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) today will release the Klamath Project Operations Plan (Plan) for Water Year 2003 on April 10, 2003, classifying this year as a “dry” year, based on the April 1, 2003 National Resources Conservation Service forecast. The Plan will identify quantities of water expected to be available for Klamath Basin water needs in this water year. Based on a “dry” water year, the quantity of water that will be available may be less than a full supply.

The Plan will cover water to be made available for Klamath Project agricultural users, as well as for refuge supplies and water used to meet environmental needs. The environmental needs include meeting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion (BO) for endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, and the NOAA Fisheries BO for the endangered coho salmon in the Klamath River.

Meeting water needs this year will be enhanced by the Klamath Basin Water Bank, which has received an overwhelming response from basin farmers. The bank’s 50,000 acre feet of water will meet downstream fishery needs, and will be distributed through Iron Gate Dam throughout the 2003 irrigation season on a schedule provided by NOAA Fisheries.

Since it will be a dry year, Reclamation also stresses that project irrigators should conserve as much water as possible. Reclamation will also soon be initiating a campaign to keep water users and all basin stakeholders informed about the status of water use in the basin on an ongoing basis throughout the water use season.

Reclamation Commissioner Meets With KWUA Board of Directors

John Keys, the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, on Wednesday evening stopped by the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) office and chatted briefly with the association’s executive committee, which was conducting its April 2003 monthly meeting. Keys was accompanied by Reclamation Klamath Basin Area manager Dave Sabo, and Jeff McCracken, public relations director for Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region office in Sacramento.

Keys provided a brief preview of the 2003 Klamath Project Operations Plan (see opposite) and expressed his appreciation for local water users’ involvement in the 2003 Environmental Water Bank project.

“Thanks for your support in putting this water bank together,” Keys told the group.

Commissioner Keys was in Klamath Falls to publicly unveil the 2003 Project operations plan and the related water bank, which will provide over 50,000 acre-feet of Project water to help meet biological opinion requirements established for the Project. That announcement occurred at 11:00 a.m. today on the south shore of Upper Klamath Lake.

Keys has met with local water users several times in the past year, and was KWUA’s keynote speaker at the association’s annual meeting in April 2002. He oversees the operation and maintenance of Reclamation's water storage, water distribution, and electric power generation facilities in the 17 Western States. Reclamation is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and the fifth largest electric utility in the West.

Walden Re-Introduces Legislation to Add Peer Review to ESA

U.S. Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR) this week re-introduced legislation - the Sound Science for Endangered Species Act Planning Act of 2003 (HR 1662) - to improve the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by incorporating a scientific peer review process as a prerequisite for ESA decisions. Walden's effort to improve the ESA stems from the April 2001 decision by the federal government to shut off irrigation water to nearly 1,200 farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin in order to protect several species of endangered fish. This decision was later examined by a panel of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which found that the order to shut off the water had "no sound scientific basis."

"Last year's National Academy of Sciences preliminary report found 'no sound scientific basis' for preventing the delivery of water as it had been delivered for nearly 100 years to grow crops and provide water to national wildlife refuges,” said Walden. “ There was 'no sound scientific basis' for destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers and ranchers in the Basin or for disrupting the local economy and community, which pushed many Oregonians into bankruptcy.”

He added, “The crisis in the Klamath Basin is proof of the toll levied on peoples' lives when decisions are made on the basis of questionable science."

Walden's ESA reform legislation in the 107th Congress served as the basis for a measure, HR 4840 that was approved by the Committee on Resources on July 10, 2002. The bill could not be considered by the full House before year’s end.

The Sound Science for Endangered Species Act of 2003 (HR 1662)

 Requires peer-reviewed science as basis for ESA decisions

 Creates an independent process to amend the ESA to make certain that all aspects of science in the implementation of that act are sound and peer-reviewed.

 Establishes a mandatory independent scientific review requirement for all ESA listing and de-listing proposals to ensure the use of sound science and provide a mechanism for resolving scientific disputes during the rulemaking process.

 Requires the Secretary of the Interior to solicit and obtain additional data from landowners and others that would assist in the development of recovery plans, including the recovery goals.

 Requires that an action, including an action for injunctive relief, to enforce the prohibition against the incidental taking of a species must be based on pertinent evidence using scientifically valid principles.

In the 107th Congress, the Sound Science for Endangered Species Act Planning Act of 2001 had 43 Republican and Democrat cosponsors and was endorsed by five leading national organizations and numerous state organizations, including National Association of Wheat Growers, National Association of Home Builders, and the Oregon Potato Commission.

Study Shows That Temperatures Are Likely Reason for 2002 Fish Die-Off

Traditional advocates of high mainstem Klamath River flows quickly concluded last fall that the fish die-off was due in large part to Klamath Project operations, despite the fact that the fish died below the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity rivers. David Vogel, a fisheries biologist with 28 years of experience, believes that Klamath River water temperatures are extremely important in this issue because of the adverse impact high water temperatures can have on salmon (such as causing disease outbreaks). The topic is also important because of how water project operations can, or cannot, affect water temperatures in riverine areas important to salmon.

2002 Findings

During late summer and early fall of 2002, Vogel conducted a field investigation to assess water temperatures in the main stem Klamath River. Main stem water temperatures were measured hourly just prior to and during the fall-run Chinook salmon migration season. Vogel found that water temperatures in the upper Klamath River downstream of Iron Gate Dam during September 2002 were unsuitable for adult salmon.

This finding was similar to that of previous studies. As expected, a normal seasonal cooling trend at the end of September and early October provided the moderating influence lowering Klamath River temperatures to tolerable levels for salmon.

Vogel also found that large numbers of salmon entered the lower Klamath River earlier than usual and were exposed to two dramatic and uncharacteristic cooling and warming conditions causing disease outbreak from warm water and crowded conditions.

“The combination of these factors was chronically and cumulatively stressful to fish and is probably the most plausible reason for the fish die-off,” concluded Vogel.

Conclusions

According to Vogel, it appears that large numbers of salmon entered the lower Klamath River earlier than usual, were exposed to two dramatic and uncharacteristic cooling and warming conditions that were chronically and cumulatively stressful to fish. At the same time, riverine conditions in the upper Klamath River were unsuitably warm for salmon because the normal seasonal cooling trend had not yet occurred. Vogel’s data indicate that September 2002 was unique, but not for the reasons portrayed by the California Department of Fish and Game in a January 2003 report that places the full blame for the fish die-off on the Klamath Project. Until additional data is acquired on the topic, Vogel’s opinion is that the combination of those factors is probably the most plausible reason for the fish die-off.

“In my opinion, the best available scientific data and information indicate that the continued operation and maintenance of historical flows at Iron Gate Dam will not jeopardize coho salmon,” said Vogel. “Furthermore, in my opinion the operations of Iron Gate Dam during the summer and fall of 2002 did not cause and could not have prevented the fish die-off in the lower Klamath River.”

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Thursday, April 24, 2003 – KWUA 49th Annual Meeting. 7:00 p.m. Campus Union Auditorium, Oregon Institute Technology. Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Tuesday, April 29th, 2003 – PCFFA et al v. USBR, et al. 1:00 p.m. 1301 Clay Street, #400 South, Oakland, California; Courtroom 3.

Monday, May 5, 2003 – KID, et al. v. United States of America. 2:00 p.m. EST, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C.

Klamath Water Users Association
2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3
Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603
(541)-883-6100 FAX (541)-883-8893 kwua@cdsnet.net