Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
Our Klamath Basin
Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
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Water storage plan axed
Bureau of
Reclamation: Storage potential of Long Lake not
cost-effective option
by
Ty Beaver, Herald
and News 11/30/10
Reclamation’s Klamath
Basin Area Office on Monday released its final appraisal of
the project, which studied the storage potential of a narrow
valley west of Upper
Klamath Lake.
The goal was to find an
area that could store water to be used in dry years.
The study found that
water would only be able to be pumped into the valley once
every seven to 10 years,
based on historic inflows and legally mandated requirements
to provide water to the environment.
“The study findings
indicated that the return on investment is extremely low and
does not warrant further study,” a press release from
Reclamation’s local office said.
The project cost was
estimated between $550 million and $2.3 billion.
More storage
Some stakeholders were
disappointed in the findings, but others said they think
there was still a chance for building more water storage in
the Basin.
“I think we’ve got real
potential,” said Marshall Staunton, a Tulelake irrigator.
Federal officials have
considered Long Lake, just west of Upper Klamath Lake, as a
possible off-stream water storage site for decades.
Water shortages
County officials have
pushed for the project in recent years because of water
shortages and drought that impacted area irrigators.
Bureau of Reclamation
officials say they would continue to evaluate other possible
water storage areas.
“Plans are to examine
smaller off-stream and on-stream storage options in the
Upper Klamath Basin as well as groundwater utilization
options that make sense for the entire Klamath watershed,”
said Sue Fry, manager of Reclamation’s local office.
State Sen. Doug Whitsett,
R-Klamath Falls, declined to comment on Reclamation’s
determination until he’d had a
State Rep. Bill Garrard,
R-Klamath Falls, and Klamath County Commissioner John
Elliott said they were disappointed in the final findings on
Long Lake.
“I think a lot of us
thought that could be long-term storage,” Garrard said.
Greg Addington,
executive director of Klamath Water Users Association, said
he feels Reclamation’s report doesn’t close the door on Long
Lake.
But Elliott was less
optimistic, saying Reclamation’s findings “pretty well close
the door on it.”
Glad for answer
Staunton said he was
glad to see the Long Lake question finally answered.
He said he opposed the
project, much to the chagrin of fellow irrigators, because
the magnitude of water needed to make it work was
unrealistic
“I know the irrigators
really want storage, but it’s time to move on,” he said.
Staunton said he’d rather focus on smaller storage projects
that could be developed within the boundaries of the Klamath
Reclamation Project, such as underground storage and
reservoirs.
Side Bar
Upper Klamath Lake and Long Lake
Upper Klamath Lake
Area:
121 square miles or 77,000 acres
Average
depth: 8 feet
Storage
capacity: 420,000 acre-feet
Annual
water loss from evaporation: 290,000 acre-feet or 4 feet in
depth
:Long
Lake (projected)
Area:
4.5 square miles or 2,000 acres
Average
depth: between 160 and 200 feet
Storage
capacity: 350,000 to 420,000 acre-feet
Annual
water loss from evaporation: 8,000 acre-feet or one-tenth
of a foot in depth
Sources:
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Klamath County
Board
of Commissioners
How would Long Lake have been built?
Long Lake is a narrow valley that sits west of Upper Klamath
Lake and has a higher elevation.
Water
can naturally accumulate on the valley floor, but only to a
shallow depth and for short periods of time.
Turning the valley into a reservoir would require several
improvements. Water would have to be pumped into the area
to fill it, likely through the Geary Canal. The floor of
the valley would have to be lined to reduce seepage.
Depending on how much water would want to be stored, a
saddle dike could be built in a gap on the valley's
northeast ridge.
What are the other options?
Bureau of Reclamation officials said there are
numerous options for water storage in the Klamath Basin.
Here's
a list of possible projects, though officials said some have
already determined unfeasible and likely won't be studied:
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Page Updated: Tuesday November 30, 2010 11:55 PM Pacific
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