Klamath Water Users Weekly Update 12/31/04
* TOP STORIES OF 2004:
-    KWUA Turns 50
-    Klamath Water Users Applaud Signing of Landmark Watershed Agreement
-    50th Annual Meeting Highlighted by Governor's Remarks, President Bush's Note
-    Sound Science Emphasized at Klamath Falls Congressional Field Hearing
-    Local Interests Prepare to Submit CIP Comments to Reclamation
-    Inspector General's Report Dismisses Senator Kerry's Klamath Allegations
-    Klamath Project Operations Remain Uncertain
-    Activists' Claims of "Endangered" Refuges Conflicts with Facts
-    KWUA Honored in Salem for Watershed Efforts
* 2004 BUSH ADMINISTRATION INVOLVEMENT WITH KLAMATH BASIN ACTIVITIES
* 2004 CONGRESSIONAL ACTION IN KLAMATH BASIN
* STATE AND LOCAL POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
* THE 2004 LEGAL ARENA
* REGULATORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES
* PROACTIVE PROJECTS AND PLANNING EFFORTS
* COALITION BUILDING, MEDIA & OUTREACH
It's been a busy year - please enjoy this summary. If you have any questions about the "Year in Review", please do not hesitate to contact our office. Dan Keppen, KWUA Executive Director

Blasting into Christmas, by Daniel Webster, Pioneer Press.  "Christmas is the moment in time when God and our human reality collided. The universe has never been the same since. It's a concept that simple country folks understand and children can grasp." posted to KBC 12/31/04.

photo by Pat Ratliff -- Earl Danosky

The year in review A look back at the stories we covered in 2004 Klamath Courier Staff Report Published 29 Dec. 04 "The Tri-County Courier reports that, as happened in 2003, releases at Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River are exceeding the releases called for in the Operations Plan."

OTHER PLACES: Fish rap: Year marked by stellar salmon season, Santa Cruz Sentinel 12/30/04. "The salmon season for 2004 will go down in history as one of the best ever. Sea conditions kept the water cool close to shore. From opening day in April to the season’s close on Oct. 3, fishing for salmon never dropped below consistent, and often rose to the level of astonishing."

EDITORIAL: Fifth Amendment restored, If the government takes your property, it owes you money, Los Vegas ReviewJournal.com 12/29/04. "Mr. Marzulla has filed two similar takings claims -- one, for $1 billion, in the Klamath Basin, where fish protections forced irrigation cutbacks on the Oregon-California border."

We wish you God's peace and love---this Christmas and for all time... see prayer page

A Letter from Ventura County from a Klamath Basin native and KBC response, 12/23/04, "I am involved opposing a project here in Ventura County, (www.matilijadam.org) they want to take a dam out so the steelhead trout can swim up stream. In doing so we will be loosing water and water storage and in their EPA it states that they will be disturbing or killing, directly or indirectly, 807 species of plants and wildlife, 15 endangered and 25 sensitive in doing the project over a 7 to 10 year period of time.  This seems to be fine because a FISH will get to swim 7 miles more up stream. Do you have any archives of the damage done to the wildlife when the water was taken? "

Basin potato growers seek clout in marketplace, 12/22/04 H&N.

Government to make restitution, 12/22/04 H&N "In a precedent-setting decision, the federal government agreed to pay four central California water districts $16.7 million for water the government diverted a decade ago to help two rare fish.The case involving irrigators in the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District has been closely followed by farmers in the Klamath Reclamation Project, who have filed a similar claim against the government."

Fish ladder needs one more piece, H&N 12/22/04 "the 360-foot-long ladder will allow fish - including endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers - to climb the 10 feet needed to get from the Link River to Upper Klamath Lake. The same construction company, Slayden Construction of Stayton, that built the $16 million A-Canal headgates, is working on the concrete fish ladder."

PRESS RELEASE: Forest Service Issues New Regulations, Committee on Resources 12/22/04

Fishing groups plan legal fight in dam decision, The Oregonian 12/22/04 "Opponents, including the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), assert that the policy set by the National Marine Fisheries Service fails to protect and restore salmon and steelhead as required by the Endangered Species Act." (PCFFA represents zero fishing groups in Oregon--KBC)

Boom: Logging begins anew H&N posted to KBC 12/21/04  "..several environmental groups are attempting to stop cutting, which they claim is overharvesting burned areas ...Requirements vary, but at least 15 percent of the standing timber must be left...Trees with any green needles, even if they are dying, cannot be harvested.

Plan to remove Diamond Lake fish OK'd, H&N 12/21/04. "The poison will kill all fish in the lake." (Tens of thousands of sucker fish are 'endangered' and sacred; killing one is a federal offense and a community was and is being decimated as the national science academy said the shut-off was "unjustified". Flawed science killed our community.  However every remaining fish in Diamond Lake will be poisoned...that's ok? KBC)

Accomplishments of the House Committee on Resources for the 108^th Congress pdf., 12/21/04.

Tulelake Irrigation District well water level 12/21/04. For past levels go HERE.

Don Thompson, AP writer, misrepresents Bush Administration involvement with Klamath issues, 12/21/04.  This is a letter by Klamath Water Users Association sent to the San Jose Mercury-News in response to an AP article written by Don Thompson.  KWUA letter is followed by Thompson's AP article Wildlife rulings ignore key science, congressmen and critics say

ESA TODAY..Subject:  Critical habitat proposed for Pacific Coast population of western snowy plover, Public comment accepted for 60 days, FWS 12/19/04.

Snowy plover protection plan OKd, Oregonian 12/19/04. "The other 16 miles include "unoccupied" areas, where scientists believe the birds are most likely to establish new nests, Wright said." According to Coos County Commissioner John Griffith, "There's no shortage of plovers..."

Group seeks status review on 198 California endangered species, sanluisobispo.com  posted 12/18/04, followed by:  Fish & Wildlife Service Fails to Perform Mandatory Status Reviews for Nearly 200 Species in California: PLF Announces Lawsuit to Compel Species Status Checks

Endangered Species Act Eyed for Change, FoxNews posted to KBC 12/18/04

KWUA Weekly Update for December 17, 2004
* Local Interests Prepare to Submit CIP Principles to Bureau of Reclamation
* Important Power Meetings Held This Week in KIamath Falls and Redding
* KWUA Announces Job Opportunity
* NOAA Fisheries Proposes Critical Habitat Rule for Pacific Salmon
For more information from Klamath Water Users Association, go to www.kwua.org

FSA offers payments for 2001 losses, H&N 12/16/04.  "Crops planted after April 6, 2001, will be eligible for the Crop Disaster Program. Payments for such crops will be calculated on a non-irrigated yield, unless the crops received irrigation." (Our irrigation water was cut off April 6, 2001, however it is later in April that most crops are/were planted. Payments are calculated on a non-irrigated yield? Perhaps someone can explain to us at KBC how this makes sense. KBC)

Enviros sue over bull trout habitat, Billings Gazette 12/16/04. For more on Klamath Basin Bull trout ESA issues go HERE.

Once-cozy company town McCloud divided on plan to sell water to Nestle, December 2004, U.S. Water News Online. (McCloud is a neighboring logging town south of the Klamath Basin that was decimated by the ESA in the guise of protecting spotted owls. KBC)

Washington's salmon plan is first to state minimums to restore runs "Specifics on the number of fish needed for viable stocks in the lower Columbia Basin aim to guide federal decisions on delisting", The Oregonian 12/16/04. (What a concept! At our Klamath Congressional Hearing it was brought up numerous times that in the Klamath Basin the federal agencies will not count the suckers so they do not know how many there are, were, or how many they want. They will not remove the Chiloquin Dam blocking 95% of sucker habitat. They will not fund deep cold-water storage identified years ago in Long Lake. And they will not acknowledge the National Academy of Science report that stated that lake level/river flow management is not the way to increase fish or help water quality. KBC)

Lake Levels River Flows posted to KBC H&N 12/16/04. For past reports go HERE.

Ranchers take aim at Oregon wolf reintroduction plan, H&N 12/15/04  "You really need to say that we have the right to protect our livestock anytime, anyplace," said Mack Birkmaier, a rancher from the Joseph area."

Malheur National Forest salvage sale, H&N posted to KBC 12/12/04. "In July 2002, the High Roberts fire burned nearly 13,535 acres of the 388,000-acre Malheur National Forest."  "..he issued an injunction ordering a halt to a U.S. Forest Service plan to log over 200 acres of old-growth trees in an area of the Malheur National Forest burned in the 2002 High  Roberts fire."
 (Why does Oregon have the highest unemployment in the nation?--KBC)

Power plant could come back to life, H&N 12/13/04.  Bieber--Neighbors south of the Klamath Basin: "The Big Valley Lumber mill closed in 2001, leaving more than 100 people out of work. Much of the equipment was sold later that year at an auction. The negative impact on the Big Valley economy was devastating."

Scott and Shasta Valley Remarkable accomplishments, by Marcia Armstrong, District 5 Siskiyou County Supervisor 12/11/04. "let’s all celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of landowners in the Scott and Shasta Valleys in enhancing and restoring fish and wildlife habitat.  From 1957 to 2004, about $11,370,000 has been spent in the Scott River Watershed on improvements. Of that, more than $5,290,000 has been spent in the past ten years."

KWUA significant accomplishments 2001-2004 12/10/04.

Keppen did outstanding job in water battles 12/14/04 Did a great job H&N 12/14/04   Keppen resigns as director of Water Users, H&N 12/11/04.   MEDIA ADVISORY: Keppen to Step Down As KWUA Executive Director, KWUA 12/10/04 Job Well done, letter to the editor by Rob Crawford H&N 12/10/04.

Klamath Water Users Weekly Update for Dec 10, 2004
* Local Watershed Interests Working to Develop CIP Principles
* Keppen to Step Down as KWUA Executive Director
* KWUA President Steve Kandra's Statement Regarding Keppen Resignation
* Cal. Officials Urge Bush Administration to Fight "Takings" Decision
* Tri-State Water Users Meeting Set for Next Week in Portland
* Governor's Recommended Budget for Natural Resources Released
* Onion Grower Research Meeting Scheduled at UC Extension Center

Klamath Bucket Brigade update 12/10/04

Salmon Trout Steelhead Readers, A Broad Watershed Wide Approach, by Rob Crawford, Klamath Basin farmer and steelhead fisherman, in response to "Fish Versus Farmers" by Don Roberts,  12/8/04.

Bush's salmon habitat proposal is move in right direction, AgAlert December 8, 2004 issue, by Emma Suarez, California Farm Bureau Federation, and Growers hopeful about proposal for fish habitat December 8, 2004, AgAlert by Christine Souza

12/7/04. Ms. Izakson recently wrote a story, 'What's at Stake in the Klamath Basin' for "California Coast & Ocean" that concludes "Since 2001, farmers in the upper basin have benefited politically from their mythic status. Real fishermen, anglers, tribal members, resort owners, and threatened species may eventually become myths themselves - and nothing more."   She is a freelance natural resource reporter in Portland, Oregon, and associate editor of Tidepool.org.  GO HERE for a response from Dan Keppen, Executive Director of Klamath Water Users Association .  Hopefully we will get an online version of Izakson's report.
   Keppen,"It’s not a Subsidized Power Rate, It’s a Contractual Rate The Klamath Project was developed with an understanding that affordable power and water would support the local, rural community. Scottish Power is only generating power in the Klamath River because the federal government and Klamath Basin water users gave up their ability to develop their own facilities. In exchange for allowing Scottish Power to generate power, Klamath Project irrigators should continue to benefit with affordable power."

Hitting a Vein, LA Times 12/7/04 -- more Klamath River discord.

Tulelake Irrigation District water level report 12/7/04.

Federal compensation fought to Central Valley farmers  California Congressman Doolittle's office: 12/7/04

OREGON: Priorities wrong, H&N letter to the editor 12/5/04.  For more on Oregon's demise go to OREGON page.

* Secretary Norton Lauds Bennett Raley for Work on Western Water Issues
* Judge Throws Out Yuroks' "Contempt" Charge in Fish Die-Off Proceedings
* "Walking Wetlands" Featured in Oregonian and Upcoming Wings Festival
* Klamath River Flow Studies Abound
* Klamath Irrigators Participate in OWRC 2004 Conference
* President Bush Names Nebraska Governor as New U.S. Agriculture Secretary
* Lost and Klamath River TMDL Status
For all subjects and links of KWUA 2004 weekly updates go HERE.

Fish and Wildlife service recommends not listing sage grouse as endangered, Congressman Walden's office 12/3/04

Water Other Places: State may deal water to Nevada CAP board OKs $330 mil plan, Arizona Republic 12/3/04.