The boat
ramps at Copco and Iron Gate reservoirs are temporarily
closed through June, and possibly later, due to a
draw-down of water requested for use by Bureau of
Reclamation for Klamath Project irrigators.
As part of
meeting a total request of approximately 20,000 acre
feet of water from the Bureau of Reclamation, PacifiCorp
announced on Monday it has started lowering the water
levels of the reservoirs on the Klamath River a second
time, which will impact recreation in that area over the
Memorial Day weekend. Water levels will be down by about
10 to 15 feet of normal. The first request for
additional water made to PacifiCorp totaled 10,500 acre
feet, an amount that has been exhausted, with the second
request for water totaling approximately 9,500 acre
feet.
“We regret
the impacts, especially as a holiday weekend approaches,
but hope the community understands that the water is
being used to help their neighbors get through a
difficult time,” said Todd Andres, Pacific Power’s
regional business manager in Klamath Falls, in a news
release.
PacifiCorp
finalized plans with the Bureau of Reclamation and
others to make more water from the reservoirs available
to the Bureau of Reclamation in Upper Klamath Lake,
according to Bob Gravely, spokesperson for PacifiCorp.
“I think
the question for the Bureau is how much of that 9,500
acre feet will actually be able to go to the Project and
how much of it is to just keep required Upper Klamath
Lake levels,” Gravely said.
“I can’t
say for sure how much of that will go to the Project
versus Upper Klamath Lake.”
Gravely
said PacifiCorp would be flexible on repayment of water
and that none was expected before the end of May, which
is a critical time frame for the irrigation districts.
“The issue
is more making sure that the reservoirs are full enough
to be able to comply with any flow directives that could
come later on,” Gravely said.
Reclamation
will use the water to keep elevations up to standard at
Upper Klamath Lake and to support water deliveries to
Klamath Project irrigators to cover a shortfall until
water deliveries to the Klamath Project take place in
June.
“We’re
appreciative that all the stakeholders on this river are
willing to cooperate and try to make things work,” said
Scott White, executive director of the Klamath Water
Users Association. “We’re facing some pretty tough,
unprecedented situations currently, and just having
everybody on board, willing to work together to try and
make things work for everybody is a breath of fresh
air.”
Boat ramps
are scheduled to remain closed until mid-June at Iron
Gate Reservoir, and potentially longer at Copco
Reservoir, which is expected to refill during the
summer.
PacifiCorp
expects peaking flows below J.C. Boyle dam will be
sufficient to support whitewater rafting over the
holiday weekend, according to Gravely.
To reduce
future impacts to recreation at Copco and Iron Gate
reservoirs in the future, PacifiCorp plans to extend
existing boat ramps to make the water accessible at
lower reservoir levels.
