Klamath Water Users Association 

With a column of smoke from a distant raging forest fire rising behind an audience of about 250, President George W. Bush yesterday in Redmond, Oregon laid out his vision for healthy forests in the West. With several dozen Klamath Basin residents in attendance, the president also touched on broader environmental policy issues, including the role his administration is playing in the Klamath River watershed.

"You've got an issue in the Klamath Basin and we've been trying to come up with reasonable policy so that people can farm the land and fish can live at the same time," Bush said to the audience, which erupted in applause.

The president spent much of his visit to Oregon seeing first hand the devastation caused by wild fires and discussing his solution to the problem – the Healthy Forest Initiative.

"Current law makes it too difficult to expedite the thinning of forests because it allows for the litigation process to delay progress and projects for years and years," said President Bush. "That's a problem. And those delays, the endless litigation delays, endanger the health of our forests and the safety of too many of our communities."

The president also extended his arguments about litigation concerns to the broader policy realm of natural resources management.

"There's too much confrontation when it comes to environmental policy," he told the audience in Redmond. "There's too much zero-sum thinking. What we need is cooperation, not confrontation."

President Bush’s visit to Central Oregon drew an impressive group of state and federal policy makers who accompanied Mr. Bush’s entourage from Portland to Redmond. The original itinerary for the president’s visit was modified significantly when a 3,000-acre forest fire forced initial plans for the president’s address at Camp Sherman to be relocated to the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond. Despite the unexpected turn in events, key government appointees and elected officials, including Oregon’s governor, were present for the president’s address in Redmond.

"I appreciate your Governor, Governor Kulongoski, who came with me today," the president said. "I'm honored that he is here. It should say loud and clear to everybody that preserving and protecting our forests is not a political issue, it is not a partisan issue, it is a practical issue that we must come together and solve."

Like the Bush Administration, Governor Kulongoski and his staff have taken a proactive role in addressing Klamath Basin challenges in the short time he has been governor.

In addition to Kulongoski, the president was joined at the podium by U.S. Agricultural Secretary Ann Veneman and U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton. U.S. Senator Gordon Smith and U.S. Representative Greg Walden accompanied the president on Air Force One on the trip from Portland to Redmond. Also present at the president’s address were James Connaughton, Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, his assistant, David Anderson, and high level officials from Secretary Veneman’s department.

Lava Beds Resource Conservation District (RCD) and Tulelake Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) district office will provide

energy and water management leadership to Klamath Project farmers by offering state-of–the-art

instruction on irrigation pump efficiency and testing, irrigation system evaluation, and pump repair/retrofit programs at the Butte Valley-Tulelake Fair on September 5^th and 6^th.

The Lava Beds RCD and Tulelake NRCS have taken another pro-active role to assist local farmers reduce pump energy costs by partnering with the Center for Irrigation Technology of California State University Fresno to provide pump testing services and an intensive energy education program. The Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT) is the statewide program manger for two, large agricultural pumping efficiency programs designed to assist the agricultural community in reducing peak electrical load and pump energy requirements.

Lava Beds RCD president Mike Byrne contacted CIT about providing pump testing services for area farmers to reduce pumping costs now and when electric rates increase in March 2006. The California Energy Commission agreed to redirect funds specifically for the Tulelake area for testing about 1,000 centrifugal and deep well pumps. Bill Powers of Powers Hydrodynamics, Modesto, a participating pump tester in both energy programs began testing Tulelake area pumps in June. To date about 550 pumps have been tested with completion expected by mid to late October.

Byrne and Gene Kelley, NRCS district conservationist in Tulelake then contacted Jim

Tischer, CIT regional program manager, about educational training for farmers that had received pump tests. Tischer and program director, Pete Canessa secured permission from the California Public Utilities Commission to use the new state-of-the-art Mobile Education Centers (MEC) at the Butte Valley-Tulelake Fair in September.

One of only two in the state, both operated by CIT, the MEC is a sophisticated 28 foot self-contained; fifth wheel trailer outfitted with two operating pumps, control valving, pressure gages, flow meters, variable frequency drives and other appurtenances and can simulate highly efficient pumps and flow conditions and well worn, very inefficient pumps. The onboard digital projector and specially engineered software graphically display the impacts and costs of changing pump, well or sprinkler operating conditions and how much money inefficient pumps or inadequately designed or changed irrigation systems can cost farmers and water districts.

The MEC will be at the Butte Valley-Tulelake Fair on September 5-6, 2003 at the base of the grandstand in the farm equipment area. Farmers

can sign up for two hour blocs of instruction from 9:00-11:00 a.m., 1:00-3:00 p.m., and 4:00-6:00 p.m. on both days. Farmers are encouraged to bring their pump tests and previous year’s utility bills for each pump tested to the seminar for individual consultation between sessions. Instruction will also be offered on irrigation system evaluations and how to reduce sprinkler, center pivot and surface irrigation energy costs. Please contact Lava Beds RCD at (530) 667-4247 ext. 5 to schedule attend an instructional session on either day or schedule a consultation session.

A handful of Klamath Project water users, southern Oregon agricultural producers and businessmen on Tuesday evening joined Congressman Greg Walden in a one-hour roundtable discussion with Congressman Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The meeting was part of a fundraising event held for Congressman Walden at the Rogue Valley Country Club in Medford.

Speaker Hastert fielded questions about issues of concern to all roundtable participants, including Social Security, Medicare, lowering taxes, and improving education. Roughly half of the meeting, however, revolved around the challenges of the Klamath Basin, including opportunities to constructively modify the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Congressman Walden has introduced legislation that would emphasize the use of sound science and peer review in ESA decision-making.

Hastert rose to his position as Speaker of the House from the cornfields of Illinois. After 16 years of teaching and coaching at Yorkville High School, he served in the Illinois House of Representatives for six years before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986. In 1999, Hastert’s colleagues honored him by electing him Speaker of the House, the third highest elected official in the U.S. government. Hastert has a reputation for developing bipartisan legislation.

"I believe all of us – regardless of party – can respect one another, even as we fiercely disagree on particular issues," he said.

Hastert spoke later in the evening to a larger group and emphasized his commitment to education reform and tax relief.

Federal, state and local spokespersons will address water issues at the Fourth Annual Modoc County Uprising in Likely, California this Saturday. California Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, Chris Parilo, representing U.S. Congressman John Doolittle, and Dan Keppen, KWUA Executive Director, are featured speakers at the event.

The event is being held this year at the Likely Place R.V. Park and Golf Course, east of the town of Likely, approximately 20 miles south of Alturas. The dress is casual, and a barbeque dinner will be served. Costs are $25.00 per person; children under 12 get in for $13.00. Sponsored By The Modoc County Republican Central Committee, the event begins at 1:00 P.M. Saturday August 23, 2003.

Wednesday, August 27, 2003 – KWUA Legal Committee Meeting. 4:00 p.m. KWUA Office. 2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Wednesday, August 27, 2003 – KWUA Executive Committee Meeting. 6:00 p.m. KWUA Office. 2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

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

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