KBRA Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement settlement articles 2016

KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement
Articles, Press Releases, Newsletters
2016

Strategy to form the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement: Cal/EPA Environmental Justice Action Plan May 18, 2005. Lead Agency: State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)

Dam removal across the West a growing concern, H&N plus Mallam's correction 12/4/16. "Local commissioners are drafting a letter in opposition to the potential removal of dams within the Columbia River Basin following their own frustrations with Klamath River dam removal...within the KBRA closed door meetings, the dam removal conversations did not focus only on the 4 lower dams on the Klamath River. The conversations widened periodically to include the need for the Keno Dam to be removed, and then expand dam removal even farther to include the Columbia and Snake River Dams.

(72% Klamath County) Citizens oppose dam removal in advisory vote, H&N 11/9/16. "An advisory vote on whether the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River should be removed came in with 72 percent opposed to the removal and 27 percent in favor in early returns. That translates to 18,838 opposed and 7,051 in favor in the initial 25,889 votes released from the Klamath County Clerk’s office..." “Even they (FERC) have referred to dam removal as the great experiment. That’s a heck of an experiment when you have 21 million cubic yards of sediment flowing downstream.”

Herald and News POLL - Should the four Klamath River hydroelectric dams be removed? So far, 598 'no', and 181 'yes'. 10/28/16

Klamath County Commissioner Tom Mallams responds to Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell’s letter to FERC that supports Klamath Hydroelectric Dam destruction, received by KBC 10/20/16

KBC News Note: The Klamath Dam Removal agreements are opposed by our local elected officials: Klamath County Commissioners, Siskiyou County Supervisors, Oregon State Senator Doug Whitsett, Oregon State Legislator Gail Whitsett, California U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa, more than 80% of Siskiyou County residents (3 hydro dams targeted by Interior for destruction are in Siskiyou County), more than 80% of Tulelake, California residents (which is within the Klamath Reclamation Project), and more than 50% of Klamath County residents (1 hydro dam targeted by Interior for destruction is in Klamath County).

Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell letter to FERC supporting destroying 4 hydrodams on the Klamath River that supply power to 70,000 families 10/17/16

Decommissioning Dams on the Klamath River to Restore Resilience and Long-term River, Community Health, by Dept. of Interior John Bezdek 10/18/16

The John Bezdek Files, We The People Radio, posted to KBC 10/20/16. "John Bezdek is currently the Assistant Solicitor for Water and Power which is the senior career position within SOL on Reclamation law. Mr. Bezdek supervises a staff of 7 attorneys and is responsible for advising the Commissioner, Assistant Secretary, and Secretary on matters pertaining to the operations and administration of the Reclamation program...Mr. Bezdek was Deputy Director of the Secretary's Indian Water Rights Office where he was responsible for managing 19 Indian Water Rights Negotiating Teams..."

Memorandum: Federal Authorities to Implement the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, by John Bezdek, Department of the Interior, to the Klamath Basin Task Force 11/20/13.

Feds asking public to weigh in on breaching Snake River dams, found on This West is Our West from Spokesman Review, posted to KBC 9/30/16.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says she doesn't feel that destroying the Klamath River hydroelectric dams, that supply power for 70,000 households, will set a precedent. however... Jewell letter to FERC supporting destroying 4 hydrodams on the Klamath River 10/17/16

BREAKING NEWS - REIMBURSEMENT OF A-CANAL HEAD GATES AND FISH SCREENS ON THE KLAMATH PROJECT, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Dept of the Interior, Michael P. Colombo (Western Regional Manager for Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations, sent to David Murillo Mid-Pacific Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation on 9/27/16, "... From limited documentation that was available to us, however, it appears the design and construction costs alone represent between $16 million and $20 million of costs that should be recovered from KID..." Board members at the time of the agreement were David Cacka, Ed Bair, Greg Carlton, Ross Fleming and Jason Chapman. Paying patrons of irrigation districts were allowed no vote on whether they supported the KBRA.

Utility, renewal corporation file to remove 4 hydro-dams, H&N 9/23/16. "There is also opposition to dam removal, both in Klamath and Siskiyou counties. Both county commissions are on record opposing the removal." "It will be the largest dam removal project in U.S. history."

Dam removal advisory vote remains on ballot 9/1/16. "PacifiCorp will not own any of the land..." if the Klamath River dams come out. Presently, "....overall, the utility pays about $1.6 million annually in county taxes..."

White House as Originator and Promoter of Klamath Basin Agreements, Canada Free Press by Laurence Kogan 9/8/16

The Myths, Lies and Deceptions Behind the Klamath Basin Agreements by attorney Lawrence A. Kogan (Submitted to the Capital Press but never published) 7/25/16

Parties Keep Up Pressure As (Klamath River) Dam Removal Proceeds, Capital Press 8/10/16.

Protest filed over Klamath River dam removal vote, H&N 8/27/16

Merkley PRESS RELEASE: Merkley and Wyden Announce Key Oregon Wins for Rural Oregon in Senate Appropriations Bill, 6/16/16

Agencies sign dam removal agreements, Western Livestock Journal 4/8/16. "local voices are making clear that the “shared vision” of dam removal is not universal, and that the agreements as drafted may not ensure either restoration of the river or sustainability of water use on the Klamath...While Brown said last Wednesday that signing the agreements was an act of “healing this river,” Haupt said the government’s own analysis predicts the opposite...which reveals that the four dams’ removal method will result in “complete sterilization of all aquatic life for a minimum of two years” in the Klamath River, due to the roughly 20 million cubic yards of sediment that will be flushed into the river...the report even admits dam removal will wipe out an entire generation of the federally-listed Coho salmon—the very fish that is being touted as the reason for the dams’ removal. This is a “clear, egregious violation” of the Endangered Species Act, he said..."

State, federal officials sign new Klamath dam agreements, Capital Press, KBC 4/6/16. “We are objecting to the process that they violated and continue to violate,” Kogan told the Capital Press, adding that the district may sue to block the agreement..."

Klamath agreements a 'first step', H&N 4/6/16. "Siskiyou County Supervisor Grace Bennett said she plans to oppose dam removal during FERC’s public comment process. “We are going to be very vocal,” she said. “This is a real tragedy for the Klamath River and the people who live along the Klamath River in Siskiyou County. Siskiyou County Supervisor Brandon Criss said he will also continue opposing dam removal. “I think the dams have had a proven benefit for the (Basin) farming community,” Criss said."

*** PRESS RELEASE - Department of Interior: Secretary Jewell, Governors of California and Oregon, Tribal Leaders & Water Users to Make Major Announcement on Klamath River Dams, Restoration. "KLAMATH, Calif. – On Wednesday, April 6, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Interior Deputy Secretary Michael Connor will join Governor of California Edmund G. Brown Jr. and Governor of Oregon Kate Brown to make a major announcement about environmental restoration, water reliability and hydroelectric dams along the 263-mile Klamath River. Federal, state and Native American tribal leaders, businesses, non-governmental organizations and water users will also join in the announcement, which will further progress toward the largest river restoration project in U.S. history..."

U.S. Rep Doug LaMalfa Statement Regarding Klamath Dam Removal Meeting March 16, 2016, California District 1, 3/17/16. "This entire process has been mired in secrecy and appears to have been conceived as a way to exclude the public from the decision-making process on an issue that very much affects them...No government entity, much less three, should be conducting business behind closed doors to avoid pushback from the public...None of the agencies of the Federal or State governments may settle a bi-state water agreement, divest federal land to tribes or others, nor can they appropriate federal dollars. All of those are functions of Congress...."

Klamath River dam removal goes public. Opposition runs high at California hearing, H&N 3/17/16. "...for the Tribes to become a signatory party to the amended KHSA, the tribal membership must vote in favor of that first..." KBC Note: Members of the public and Klamath Project irrigators are not allowed to vote; only the farm leaders. Siskiyou and Klamath Counties, home of the Klamath River Dams, oppose the deals.
Klamath Agreement in Principle, pdf document

Is Ed Sheets a "neutral" facilitator? Letter from Elaine Willman, MPA Ronan, Montana to Ed Sheets, Facilitator of CSKT Water Compact, C.I.T.T., and Klamath River dam-removal "agreements,"

PRESS RELEASE - Rep. LaMalfa Demands Answers on Klamath Dam Removal “Shell Corporation, 3/1/16. "Citing an agreement signed by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, the State of California, the State of Oregon, and PacifiCorp to create a “non-federal entity” to remove the dams, LaMalfa demanded that Connor explain where Interior derived the authority to engage in removal of the Klamath Dams...We’re seeing an administration that claims to be the most transparent in history engaged in closed meetings, neck-deep in a shell corporation, and requiring stakeholders to sign nondisclosure agreements just to learn how they’ll be affected...”

Another Closed Door Deal Emerges, by Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett KBC 2/9/16. "Whitman admitted he had not talked with Siskiyou County Supervisors, even though three of the four dams are located in Siskiyou County... Recent polls show that as many as 80 percent of Siskiyou County citizens oppose destruction of the dams...Representatives of both the Klamath Irrigation District and Klamath Water Users Association indicated they had no previous knowledge of a new deal to remove the dams. They expressed their concern that they were not consulted regarding the negotiation of an agreement that would fundamentally alter their livelihoods...Both California Congressman Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock were also kept out of the loop, according to their staffs. Their offices had not yet seen the AIP and were to receive a first briefing the day after it was made public...Congressman’s office (Walden) had neither participated in nor been consulted with regarding the new dam removal deal...It would seem that clear and transparent government would require bureaucrats to actually consult with elected legislators and Congressmen prior to making monumental decisions."

Klamath Dams and Oyster Farm: The President’s Unfinished Promise: The Federal Government Still Lacks a Meaningful Scientific Integrity Policy, Huffington Post by Dr. Corey Goodman, elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, biotech entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and retired University of California at Berkeley biology professor, 2/26/16. "..When the Obama administration came into office, it began considering a billion-dollar project to remove four dams on the Klamath River. There was never much doubt about the outcome: in 2009, Interior Secretary Salazar said that the proposal to remove the dams 'will not fail.'...

First, Interior’s policy provides no transparency, timeliness, and truly independent review. Second, it fails to deal with agency conflicts of interest. Third, it has no requirement to correct egregious errors. And fourth, it provides no accountability - no way to appeal decisions either administratively or in the courts..."

Local leaders upset over dam removal, H&N 2/10/16. " 'There’s no need for the dams to be removed,' Criss said. 'I see no benefit to Klamath Basin agriculture because it takes away water storage and replaces it with no water storage.' " "Oregon Rep. Gail Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, said she believes the decision about whether the dams should be removed belongs with FERC. 'To turn it over to FERC is the right path, versus deciding politically whether to do that.' ”

Coalition moving to demolish Klamath River dams without Congress’s assent, Sac Bee, posted to KBC 2/4/16. "Federal officials and the states of California and Oregon said Tuesday they will press forward with plans to demolish four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, despite resistance from Congress...“We will move ahead as a group and start the process,” California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird told lawmakers at a committee hearing..."

(Klamath) Dam demolition revived, Drawdown of water could start in 2020, H&N 2/3/16.

* February 1 TOWNHALL Yreka, RESOLUTION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF KLAMATH BASIN AND HYDRO ELECTRIC FACILITIES, Keynote Speaker atty Larry Kogan ESQ, Specialist in Constitutional Law.

Observations regarding the January 26 California Waterboard meeting in Yreka to gather comments on relicensing the Klamath River hydroelectric dams from Richard Marshall, Siskiyou County Water Users board 1/31/16

Opposition to dam removal voiced. Input given during meeting on Klamath River dams, H&N 1/28/16

Jan 29 Klamath Dams comments due!

Comments sought on Klamath River dams, California water board seeks input on relicensing (by Jan. 29, 2016), H&N, reposted to KBC 1/27/16

* Jan 26 Klamath Dams scoping meeting Yreka

Removing dams preferred path, H&N 1/22/16. "Richard Whitman, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s natural resources adviser, said the states and U.S. Department of Interior officials are close to reaching an agreement with PacifiCorp on how to move forward with dam removal."

Water, air service and marijuana top topics - Senator Jeff Merkley discusses Basin issues at town hall meeting, H&N, posted to KBC 1/17/16. "Merkley said he will continue working with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to rekindle water solutions proposed in the Klamath Water Recovery and Economic Restoration Act, which failed to pass through Congress last year."

KBC News notes on last Friday's meeting of Klamath Project irrigation districts to find water solutions in the aftermath of the failed controversial KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, and the resignation of Klamath Water User's executive director, posted to KBC 1/12/16"Tracy Liskey said we will have the same problems again if we leave out the off project irrigators; we need a basin solution. He said 90% of the problem with the KBRA was that all the meetings were in closed door executive sessions and people didn't know what was going on. 'If we don't address issues tearing us apart, we can't bring this together.' Luther Horsely, KWUA past president of the board, said they couldn't talk about the settlement because they were gagged. Brent Cheyne brought a list of solutions he said were necessary." KBC Photo above is of TID/Tulelake Irrigation District Manager Brad Kirby, right, escorting a tribal member out of the building when he loudly interrupted this meeting of irrigation district boards.