T U L EL A K E — The Tulelake Irrigation District board said Wednesday it hadn’t determined whether it would take a stand on a water settlement plan on how to allocate water in the Klamath River watershed.
Tulelake Irrigation District manager Earl Danosky said the board has authority to support or oppose the plan, which hasn’t been publicly released yet. The district is the largest in the Klamath Project. Formed in the 1950s, it services about 63,000 acres and has about 300 separate users.
The board met Wednesday and discussed the proposed agreement, but settlement talk participants adhered to confidentiality agreements.
“People know that there’s a confidentiality agreement and that remains in effect,” said Paul Simmons, the irrigation district’s attorney, before the group went into a closed executive session. He said there would be several public meetings before an agreement is finalized.
25 organizations
Representatives from about 25 organizations have met for the past three years to devise the plan. Participants include government agencies, tribes, environmentalists and irrigators. Officials say the settlement should be made public soon, but reports of when vary from a week to a month.
“I hope everybody knows soon,” Simmons said before the board went into executive session.
Ed Sheets , who is involved in settlement talks, told the Herald and News Wednesday that the group has not determined when or how the agreement will be made public.