Klamath Water Users Association
Weekly Update
May 2, 2003
|
|
Klamath Water Users Association
Weekly Update May 2, 2003
|
OWRD, USGS Provide Update of Recent Klamath Basin Groundwater Studies Representatives from the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) yesterday evening summarized recent efforts to study Klamath Basin groundwater. While many in the audience showed up to hear more about ongoing studies in the Bonanza area – where the proposed COB Energy Facility would be sited – the greater part of last night’s presentations focused on a state-federal basin groundwater study, groundwater demonstration projects, and well drilling efforts. Marshall Gannett, a hydrologist with the USGS, provided an update on a cooperative study his agency has been working on with OWRD. This six-year effort is assessing recharge to basin aquifers, quantifying current ground water use, determining total ground water storage within the basin, documenting direction and rate of ground water movement, and examining the hydraulic connection of ground water and surface water resources. USGS hydrologists are just beginning to incorporate recent technical findings into a computer model that will provide a tool to assess how various groundwater management proposals might impact underlying groundwater resources. A preliminary report of progress completed to date will be released by USGS later this year; a final report will be completed in the fall of 2006. OWRD staff also outlined their efforts to examine Basin ground water resources to determine the degree to which groundwater can be used to supplement surface water supplies. OWRD and Shasta View Irrigation District in 1998 initiated a 40-well monitoring and well-testing program that showed potential for the district to pump groundwater without impacting neighboring well owners with senior rights. The studies also showed that seepage from Klamath Project canals has a significant and beneficial impact on groundwater resources stored in basalt layers. OWRD has recommended that well monitoring be continued, and warned that groundwater should not be relied upon to completly replace Klamath Project surface water, since long-term aquifer impacts could be expected. However, according to OWRD, cautious and periodic reliance on groundwater in the Shasta View area could provide supply relief in times of Project shortfalls. Another OWRD study conducted in the Lost River sub-basin reflects the findings suggested by other groundwater monitoring efforts conducted by the agency throughout the Klamath Project area. In general, it appears that long-term groundwater levels within the Klamath Project appear to be driven primarily by climactic trends. Interestingly, OWRC findings suggest that, in the Swan Valley area of the Lost River sub-basin, a fault system apparently drains subsurface water out of the valley and towards the Lost River. Much of the conversation that occurred between local residents mingling before last night’s meeting centered around the much-publicized COB Energy Facility, a proposed 1,150-megawatt power plant that would be sited about three miles south of Bonanza, in the midst of Klamath Project farms and ranches. The Chicago-based Peoples Energy has developed a proposal that would pump up to 7,500 gallons of groundwater per minute to be used for the power plant cooling system. The water would be drawn from a deep basalt aquifer, subject to extensive monitoring and mitigation conditions. Klamath Basin a Checkerboard of Groundwater Management Efforts With the loss of Klamath Project surface water in 2001, agencies and local water users immediately directed their attention to local groundwater resources as one means of mitigating for the pending catastrophe that began to emerge that spring. The groundwater management activities undertaken later in the year, and since that time, have demonstrated the complex challenges of managing groundwater in a basin that encompasses two states, three counties, characterized by a strong federal presence. Prior to the 2001 water crisis, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) were all engaged in various groundwater management activities in the Basin, which were suddenly put on the back burner when the urgent needs of the water cutoff took precedent. These actions included: Aggressive emergency actions undertaken on the California side when DWR teamed with local irrigation districts to develop supplemental groundwater supplies to establish cover crops so the region’s soil would not be lost to wind erosion. DWR initiated a study of the California aquifers and is working with Modoc and Siskiyou counties to investigate continued monitoring and studies. DWR has already begun developing geologic maps, cross-sections, subsidence and water quality monitoring, and modeling of groundwater conditions. OWRD in 2001 issued dozens of emergency drought permits and limited licenses in the Klamath Basin to accelerate supplemental groundwater development. In addition to the OWRD and USGS groundwater management activities outlined elsewhere in this update, other parties involved with groundwater management issues in the Klamath Basin include: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Basin Area Office (Coordinating agency, management of supplemental refuge water delivery) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Tulelake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges (well development, groundwater purchase for supplemental refuge supplies) City of Malin (Well development, mitigation for potential impacts to City drinking water supply) County of Modoc (Groundwater ordinance, interest in managing local GW) County of Siskiyou (Groundwater ordinance, interest in managing local GW) Tulelake Irrigation District (Conjunctive management underway, interest in securing funding for additional resource assessment) Resources agencies in both states are still wrestling with the challenge of delineating drawdown impacts associated with the 2001irrigation curtailment, new wells, and existing wells. This task is made all the more daunting due to the political and jurisdictional complications associated with a shared groundwater basin that underlies two states, three counties, and two national wildlife refuges. CALENDAR OF EVENTS Monday, May 5, 2003 – KID, et al. v. United States of America. 2:00 p.m. EST, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Washington. Monday, May 5th, 2003 – Klamath Hydro Relicensing Fish Passage Work Group. 12:00 – 6:00 p.m. Miner’s Inn, Yreka, CA Tuesday, May 6th, 2003 - Klamath Hydro Relicensing Meetings. Miner’s Inn, Yreka, CA Plenary Meeting. 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Aquatics Meeting. 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 6th, 2003 – Klamath Hydro Relicensing Socioeconomics Meeting. 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. USFWS Office, 1829 S. Oregon St, Yreka. Wednesday, May 7th, 2003 – Klamath Hydro Relicensing Aquatics Meeting. 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Miner’s Inn, Yreka, California. Thursday, May 8th, 2003 – Klamath Hydro Relicensing HSC Meeting. 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Miner’s Inn, Yreka, California. Thursday, May 8th, 2003 – Klamath Hydro Relicensing Recreation Meeting. 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. USFWS Office, 1829 S. Oregon St., Yreka. Thursday, May 8, 2003 – KWUA Executive Committee Meeting. 6:00 p.m. KWUA Office, 2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3, Klamath Falls. Friday, May 9, 2003 - Klamath Hydro Relicensing HSC Meeting. 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Miner’s Inn, Yreka, California. Tuesday, May 20th, 2003 – PCFFA et al v. USBR, et al. 1:00 p.m. 1301 Clay Street, #400 South, Oakland, California. |
|
Klamath Water Users
Association |
Content and Logo: Copyright © Klamath
Water Users Association, 2002 All Rights
Reserved
Page design: Copyright ©
klamathbasincrisis.org, 2002, All Rights
Reserved