Klamath Water Users Association 2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3 Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603 Phone (541) 883-6100 FAX   (541) 883-8893   kwua@cvcwireless.net  Weekly Update August 27, 2004 Feds Update KWUA on Lower Klamath River Conditions and Coordination Reclamation staff on Wednesday updated local water users and managers on the current status of fishery conditions and agency coordination on the lower Klamath River. Throughout the summer, weekly phone calls have been scheduled to provide coordination between state and federal agencies and tribal interests monitoring conditions on the river. Nearly 100,000 salmon are expected to return this fall, and the recent cool weather and increased flows from the Trinity River have already triggered the upstream return of these fish Increased instream flows from Trinity River were initiated Sunday, August 22. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and NOAA Fisheries, along with the Trinity River Management Council (TMC), recommended the increased flows as a proactive measure to avert any potential fish mortality in the 2004 fall salmon run. Because many of the fish set to migrate through the Lower Klamath River are of Trinity River origin, Reclamation has acquired from willing sellers in the Central Valley Project approximately 36,000 acre-feet of Trinity Reservoir water for these releases. Fisheries biologists say this type of release regime is designed to decrease water temperatures in the Lower Klamath River, thereby decreasing stress on migrating adult salmon and diluting the concentration of endemic fish pathogens, while also reducing the occurrence of physical barriers to migration such as shallow riffles. Ryan Broddrick, Director of the California Department of Fish and Game, said late last week, "This action will not only improve conditions for the impending salmon migration, but it also sets an example of how federal, state, local and tribal agencies and private groups can work together Lower Klamath River Conditions and Agency Coordination (Continued) toward a common goal." The flow schedule calls for an increase from the current 450 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,650 cfs, then gradually ramping back down to 450 cfs by September 13th. This schedule uses the entire 36,000 acre-feet of Trinity water during the 3-week long increased flow regime. Meanwhile, back on the Klamath River mainstem, Reclamation has decided to jack up releases from Iron Gate Dam to 1,300 cfs for a 60-hour period this week. The intent is to provide additional high flows to coincide with the Trinity flows at a time when the Hupa Valley tribe is celebrating ceremonial rituals near the Trinity – Klamath confluence. Reclamation has justified this decision as a means of meeting a tribal trust obligation, which will redirect approximately 3,000 acre-feet of Klamath Project water. The Iron Gate releases will ramp back down to 900 cfs after the pulse flow recedes. This rate is still several hundred cfs above the schedule established in the NOAA Fisheries biological opinion, and is being supplemented by water bank flows. By the end of this year’s irrigation season, Reclamation anticipates that approximately 88,000 acre-feet of Klamath Project water will have been redirected to meet water bank and tribal trust calls in 2004 (see page 3). According to a recent assessment by the Fish Health Assessment Team, "things look normal" on the river right now, despite the doom and gloom predictions of environmental activists, Humboldt State University spokespersons, and others. Overall, Reclamation staff appears fairly confident that river conditions would not contribute to a massive fish mortality event this fall. Continued on page 3   Klamath Water Users Association 2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3 Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603 Phone (541) 883-6100 FAX   (541) 883-8893   kwua@cvcwireless.net  Weekly Update August 27, 2004 Reclamation Updates KWUA on 2004 Klamath Project Pilot Water Bank The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) on Wednesday updated Klamath Project water users on the expenditures and water use generated by the 2004 Klamath Project Pilot Water Bank program. The water bank was established in the NOAA Fisheries biological opinion for 2002-2012 Klamath Project operations, and is intended to compensate willing irrigators to forego the use of Project water, so that water can instead be reserved in Upper Klamath Lake to maintain lake levels for suckers, and/or to be released downstream to meet flow conditions established for coho salmon. The pilot water bank includes three primary provisions: 1) crop idling; 2) groundwater substitution; and 3) direct groundwater pumping. Reclamation on Wednesday provided meeting participants with a summary of water use and expenditures for the Klamath Project 2004 Pilot Water Bank. Thus far, 49,097 acre-feet of water has been generated to the bank via fixed contracts (dryland operation, Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, and groundwater substitution), while 35,382 acre-feet have been developed through groundwater option contracts with Tulelake Irrigation District and larger groups of individual landowners located between Merrill and Klamath Falls, Oregon, and in the Coppock Bay area, south of Tulelake, California. Due in part to the recent cooler weather, withdrawals out of Upper Klamath Lake have dropped off, and it appears that the end-of-September lake levels will slightly exceed the levels set in the sucker biological opinion. Reclamation does not anticipate that it will have to call on Klamath Project groundwater option pumpers enrolled in the water bank any more this year. 2004 Water Situation Better Than Expected in Lower Klamath Refuges A national wildlife refuge water manager reported to local water users on Wednesday that the 2004 water situation was "more favorable than expected" for a dry-year scenario on the Lower Klamath refuges, which receive water from the Klamath Project. Fran Maiss, assistant refuge manager, attributes much of this year’s success to a written agreement that was developed this year between the USFWS (who manages the refuges) and the Bureau of Reclamation (who supplies the water). That agreement called for the release of 10,000 acre-feet of water from Lower Klamath seasonal wetlands last spring, which helped meet a call made by lower river tribes. In exchange, Reclamation committed to returning this water to the refuge throughout the irrigation season. Due to a combination of steady Ady Canal supplies and higher than normal flows through D Plant, much of the released water has been recaptured. Because of these efforts, the refuges have been able to flood 3,000 more acres of permanent marsh than originally anticipated. USFWS estimates an additional 25,000 acre-feet of water will be needed in September and October to flood 8,000 acres of seasonal wetlands, which will be supplied from a variety of sources, including Tule Lake sumps, agriculture return flows, normal Ady Canal deliveries, and backup groundwater supplies coming from wells on the refuge and from adjacent landowners. Maiss noted that refuge managers are pleased with how things have developed in this dry year. He pointed to key management changes that have been made, including converting some seasonal marshes to grain, trying to optimize management on existing wetlands, and improved coordination between the refuges and Tulelake Irrigation District and Reclamation. Continued on page 4   Klamath Water Users Association 2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3 Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603 Phone (541) 883-6100 FAX   (541) 883-8893   kwua@cvcwireless.net  Weekly Update August 27, 2004 General Accounting Office Investigators Assessing the Klamath Water Bank Auditors working for the General Accounting Office (GAO) out of San Francisco and Washington, D.C. are in the Klamath Basin, and they want to know how the Klamath Project water bank is working. At the request of California Congressmen Mike Thompson and Henry Waxman, the GAO has been directed to investigate the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the Klamath Project water bank. GAO has been tasked with answering ten questions regarding the water bank, which has been criticized by some environmental groups and media outlets. The water bank was established in the NOAA Fisheries biological opinion for 2002-2012 Klamath Project operations, and is intended to compensate willing irrigators to forego the use of Project water, so that water can instead be reserved in Upper Klamath Lake to maintain lake levels for suckers, and/or to be released downstream to meet flow conditions established for coho salmon. Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) in early 2003 announced it would support, and assist the Department of Interior in the implementation of, the pilot water bank in 2003 to provide over 50,000 of additional water for environmental purposes. While noting that Reclamation’s pilot program did not closely resemble KWUA’s vision for a long-term bank, the association agreed at that time that it would continue to work with Reclamation and Interior to complete a long-term water bank proposal. In the past two years, administration of the water bank has been almost solely accomplished by Reclamation. Discussions between Reclamation and KWUA on the water bank have not reopened.   GAO Investigators Assessing the Klamath Water Bank (Continued) A sense of where Reps. Thompson and Waxman may be leaning might best be gauged by the last issue presented in their September 24, 2003 request to the comptroller general of the United States. "An alternative approach (to the water bank) that has been suggested is for Reclamation to purchase land from willing sellers to retire accompanying water rights," wrote Thompson and Waxman. Community leaders have long resisted the buyout option as a realistic measure to meet the Basin’s water needs. Many of the same proponents of "downsizing" the Klamath Project also advocate for taking the purchased farmland and converting it to wetlands. According to the University of California Intermountain Research & Extension Center in Tulelake, wetlands in the Tulelake area consume up to 50 percent more water than crops grown on local farmland, which does not suggest a potential water savings. Business leaders also fear the "ripple effect" that will occur when expanses of farmland are no longer contributing to the local economy. Water users further believe that decision makers in the federal agencies understand very well that there are problems with the existing biological opinions, and the current water bank schedule, which requires a steadily escalating water bank every year - regardless of hydrology - is one of those problems. "We are hopeful that there will be new Endangered Species Act consultation soon that will lead to common sense in the future," said KWUA Executive Director Dan Keppen. "Without that understanding, we would be hard pressed to believe that we are on a path that will work to the overall benefit of the community."   Continued on page 5   Klamath Water Users Association 2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3 Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603 Phone (541) 883-6100 FAX   (541) 883-8893   kwua@cvcwireless.net  Weekly Update August 27, 2004   CALENDAR OF EVENTS Tuesday, August 31, 2004 – Chiloquin Dam Fish Passage Collaborative Meeting. 10:00 a.m. United Methodist Church, Chiloquin, Oregon. Monday, August 30, 2004 – Briefing on Lower Klamath River Conditions. 1:30 p.m. Eureka City Hall, Eureka, California. Organized by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA). Among many others, KWUA and local county commissioners / supervisors will make brief presentations. Wednesday, September 14, 2004 to Friday, September 16, 2004 – Water Education Foundation Northern California Tour. Contact WEF at 916-444-6240 for more information

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