KWUA Water Works, March 2022, Issue 32

2022 Klamath Project Operations Plan to Be Released

During the week of April 4, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) will issue its 2022 Operations Plan for the Klamath Project. The Operations Plan prescribes volumes of water that Reclamation determines will be available for irrigation and wildlife refuges and Klamath River flows during the “spring-summer” period, which ends on September 30, 2022.

Last year, the Operations Plan disallowed any diversion of any Project water from Upper Klamath Lake or the Klamath River. 2021 was thus the only year in the 117 years of the Project of zero water deliveries from the Klamath system. Although the drought was a factor in 2021, there was enough water in the system to meet irrigation needs; all that water was, however, allocated to threatened and endangered fish species in Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River.

Project water users have emphasized that in the past, similar drought years such as 1992 and 1994, Project diversions were on the order of 400,000 acre-feet, with no evidence of negative effects to sensitive fish populations. In addition, despite the dedication of increased volumes of water to threatened and endangered fish species in the last two decades, there is no evidence of any improvement in the populations of those species.

As in 2020 and 2021, this year’s Operations Plan will tie to the “Interim Operations Plan” (IOP) that was developed in 2020. There are numerous problems – legal, technical, and otherwise – with the IOP. See Waterworks, February 2022, Deficiencies of the Interim Operations Plan ( https://kwua.org/kwua-water-works-february-2022-issue-31/).

Hydrologic conditions at this time in 2022 are similarly poor to those that existed at this time in 2021. KWUA is advocating in every available context the necessity of a timely, meaningful supply of water for irrigation in 2022. To that end, KWUA is also coordinating with its member districts regarding their individual operations and the Project as a whole. For the longer term, KWUA will work to have decision makers understand and cure the problems of current approaches to Project operations. KWUA will also pursue collaborative and mutually respectful dialogue with tribes and other parties with interests in the Klamath Basin.

Is Anyone Listening?

New Family Farm Alliance Report Ties Food Shortages to Need for Agricultural Water

Capital Press yesterday posted a guest editorial written by Family Farm Alliance President Patrick O’Toole, a Wyoming rancher, which outlines the importance of food security, and how that critical strategic national priority is now often taken for granted by the American public.

This is an excellent piece about the incongruity between global food security concerns and public failure to recognize the essential role of irrigated agriculture in providing food.

Commentary: A wake-up call to our national leaders from a Western rancher

Pacific Power Seeks Huge Rate Increases FOR Irrigation Pumping

Through two March 1 filings at the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC), Pacific Power, the electric utility in the Klamath Basin and the Oregon “dba” of PacifiCorp, proposed extremely large increases in electric power rates for all its customers in Oregon, beginning January 1, 2023. The proposed increase for irrigation pumping is 18.7 percent.

KWUA President Ben DuVal said that KWUA will oppose the increases at the OPUC: “This is the worst of all possible times to have a power rate increase, let alone one of this size. With the very limited water supplies available, irrigators need affordable power to access and manage water to the maximum benefit.”

The filings came as a surprise to many parties. Pacific Power completed a new “general rate case (GRC)” in 2020, and it is uncommon for a new GRC to be filed just two years after the last one. Pacific Power’s last GRC before 2020 was in 2013.

KWUA, with welcome financial support from the Langell Valley Irrigation District, will intervene in the GRC, and in a parallel case concerning the Transition Adjustment Mechanism (TAM), to oppose the increases. The proposed percent increase for irrigation is the highest proposed increase of all Pacific Power’s customer classes.

Approximately one-half of all Pacific Power’s Oregon “Schedule 41” (the irrigation tariff) customers are in the Klamath Basin. For approximately 90 years, water users in the Klamath Project and Upper Klamath Basin enjoyed low power costs due to a history of the relationship between the Klamath Project and PacifiCorp’s hydroelectric developments on the Klamath River. That relationship ended in 2006 with the expiration of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license for the PacifiCorp hydroelectric facilities.

In much of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, other power providers such as Bonneville Power Administration and numerous local agencies provide electrical power service. A study completed by Reclamation in 2020 found that Pacific Power’s Oregon irrigation customers pay approximately double what power users in similarly situated Reclamation projects pay in the Northwest, and California customers of Pacific Power pay triple the irrigation pumping rates paid in similarly situated Reclamation projects.

Klamath County Domestic Well Mitigation Program

In 2021, Klamath County experienced a severe and continuing drought. Due to the drought and regulatory constraints, there were no surface water deliveries through the Klamath Project’s system for delivery of Upper Klamath Lake and Klamath River water. On March 31, 2021, Governor Brown signed Executive Order No. 21-07 declaring a State of Drought Emergency in Klamath County. That Order initiated several opportunities to assist Klamath County residents experiencing domestic well challenges resulting from the drought.

The purpose of the Domestic Well Financial Assistance Program (DWFAP) is to provide financial assistance to the owners of domestic wells located within Klamath County who experienced challenges with their well or wells due to the 2021 drought.

Klamath County has received $4 million dollars to assist homeowners with their affected or failing domestic wells from 2021. The DWFAP will start accepting applications on April 1 at 12:00 a.m., and close the application period on April 30 at 11:59 p.m.

Klamath County will pay 75 percent of the eligible cost of the work specified in the contracts, up to $40,000 per domestic well. To view the eligibility requirements, prerequisites, and more, visit their website.

KWUA Releases Assessment of 2021 Water Curtailment Impacts

In response to several recent requests, KWUA has prepared preliminary information on the economic, environmental, and health and safety impacts associated with the lack of surface water from the Klamath Project in 2021.

The preliminary figures include an estimated $100 million decline in regional economic activity, 700 regional jobs lost, a 55-70 percent decline in on-farm income, $5 million in added operating costs, and a 20 percent decline in land values. In addition to these direct impacts, KWUA has also identified other, unquantified indirect impacts, including lost commercial relationships, impacts to domestic wells, poor air quality, and loss of habitat and food resources for waterfowl and other wildlife, among many others. The purpose of this information is to describe the real impact of the current approach to water management in the Klamath Basin.

KWUA is working with local, state, and non-profit entities to support and fund more formal studies of the impacts to water shortages both in 2021 and likely 2022, as well as the overall economic value of agriculture in the Klamath Basin.

The impacts of last year’s water curtailment extended to education and research. According to staff at the University of California’s Intermountain Research and Extension Center (IREC), based in Tulelake, the water shortages reduced the irrigated acreage under IREC programs by 80 percent, limiting the capacity to conduct needed research related to drought, such as deficit irrigation strategies, alternative cropping systems, and new crop varieties with improved drought tolerance. The IREC reduced its staff, creating more job loss. Similar impacts were experienced at the Oregon State University’s Extension Service in Klamath County.

Klamath Project Drought Response Agency

The Klamath Project Drought Response Agency (DRA) Board of Directors held a regular meeting on March 17, 2022. The board addressed two major items of business.

Assistance to Districts for 2021

First, the board adopted a policy for distributing funds appropriated by the Oregon Legislature for assistance to irrigation districts and similar water distribution agencies in the Klamath Project in Oregon. As described in the policy:

In 2021, surface water for land normally irrigated by Klamath Project water was extremely limited, severely impacting the operations of irrigation districts and other similar entities. The lack of water in 2021 resulted in such entities taking what would normally be unnecessary action in order to deliver the limited water available for irrigation to their patrons. Additionally, the lack of water and inability to operate has resulted in the need for additional maintenance and upkeep on water delivery systems to assure capacity for future operations. Finally, the patrons of irrigation districts and similar entities were charged for the operation and maintenance of irrigation and drainage works, even if they received no water or limited water supplies.

The Legislature responded to these circumstances in Senate Bill 5561, enacted last December as part of a broader package that provided funds to address disaster conditions throughout the state. See December 2021 Waterworks; Local Leaders Applaud State Funding Relief (https://kwua.org/kwua-water-works-december-2021-edition/).

SB 5561 included an appropriation of $4 million for the DRA to assist districts and, ultimately, district patrons responsible for paying the districts’ costs of operations. DRA will open an application period for districts that will close on April 30, 2022.

Eligible districts will recover a percentage of the appropriated funds that equals the percentage of the total amount of charges levied by all districts to their patrons in 2021. In other words, if a given district’s charges equal ten percent of all the charges levied by all districts combined, that district would receive ten percent of the total SB 5561 funds available.

KWUA and Oregon Farm Bureau, along with other partners, advocated this assistance in Salem and are grateful to Governor Brown and the Legislature for recognizing this need and others.

2022 DRA Programs

The March 17 DRA board meeting also included discussion of a “no irrigation” program available to individual producers in 2022. Under this program, compensation is paid to individuals who commit that they will not apply irrigation water of any kind from any source to specific properties. This practice helps stretch available supplies and mitigates impacts that could occur from a shortage.

KWUA Announces Annual Meeting

KWUA will host its public 2022 Annual Meeting on April 12, 2022. The meeting will be held at the Klamath County Fairgrounds, located at 3531 South 6th St., Klamath Falls, OR in the Linman Building. Social Hour starts at 5 p.m. and the program starts at 6 p.m.

This year’s featured speaker will be Congressman Cliff Bentz.

If you would like to attend the Annual Meeting, please RSVP @ www.kwua.org or email [email protected]

The Klamath Water Users Association would to thank all our 2021-2022 financial partners for supporting our Annual Meeting. Without their support, KWUA would not be able to give the community members the valuable information that impacts our local and regional economies and communities through events such as the Annual Meeting.

What KWUA Has Been Working On . . .

KWUA’s Board of Directors strives to keep member districts, their patrons, and other interested parties informed. Board members help with the dissemination of information received at our monthly board meetings, and staff produces a monthly newsletter.

The KWUA board help its most recent regular business meeting on March 9. Below is a recap of the ongoing activities, including the current status. If you would like more in-depth information, we encourage you to contact your respective district board member listed on our website.

KWUA Board Nominees and Elections

During the March regular meeting, the board re-elected the “at-large” members who served in 2021. The board also voted to approve the Nominations Committee’s recommended slate of 2022 officers: Ben DuVal as President, Ry Kliewer as Vice President, Luther Horsley as Treasurer, and Marc Staunton as Secretary.

KWUA 2022 Annual Meeting and Report

KWUA’s Annual Meeting will be held on April 12 at the Klamath County Fairgrounds. Congressman Bentz will be the keynote speaker. There is hope that there may be a new Klamath Basin Area Office Manager to introduce. Chelsea Shearer is working to create the annual report, and she has asked district managers to submit a write-up related to operating in 2021.

Washington Activities

Paul Simmons presented a written report that summarized meetings with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Congressional personnel over the past month and provided a verbal summary at the March 9 meeting.

Board members were encouraged to watch the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee hearing held on March 8, if they had not done so already. Also, on the morning of March 9, DOI executed the second “roundtable” meeting hosted by Elizabeth Klein, Senior Counselor to Secretary Haaland. The main focus was environmental restoration, and there were well over 100 participants.

Mr. Simmons also reported that it appeared that there would be an omnibus bill approved on March 11. (This subsequently occurred.) The omnibus includes $5 million for SCADA installation, Project-wide, as advocated by KWUA in partnership with Farmers Conservation Alliance. We also understand that the bill includes an additional $10 million intended for DRA programs in 2022.

Communications Committee

Scott Seus described several activities that could be done to increase the available funding for public relations and discrete actions to increase visibility. The communications committee will meet the week of March 14. Mr. Simmons will meet with Hannah Whitley about available grants and grant writers. Mr. Seus also spoke about conversations with others regarding the broad play that a recent series is receiving in being the definitive understanding of the Klamath Basin. Mr. Seus is interested in organizing a community response.

2022 Goals and Strategic Planning Meeting(s)

The board held a strategic planning session on March 3-4. Staff will complete a write-up for board review and confirmation, which will include goals and strategies. There were also discrete assignments to staff for other, individual products for use by KWUA’s members.

Executive Director Report

Re-Consultation

The formal Executive Director’s Report included a discussion of the status of ESA re-consultation and the recent signals that Reclamation is heading toward an approach that would involve “extension” of the current IOP for an indefinite period of time. The board supported and authorized communications to federal agencies as necessary by staff to state that the IOP should not be extended and, for the time being, annual plans and consultations are a more appropriate course of action.

Intervention in OPUC Cases

The board approved the staff recommendation to move to intervene in PacifiCorp’s new GRC and TAM case (see the related story above). Staff will also communicate with the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation and others about the coordination of efforts.

Dam Removal

Staff will prepare a draft of comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement recently circulated by FERC concerning its pending decision on license surrender and decommissioning for PacifiCorp’s mainstem Klamath River hydroelectric dams. See related story on page 2. Staff has also received inquiries from legislators related to details of dam removal and underlying agreements and is providing factual information in response.

Salem and Sacramento Activities

Direction from the March 3-4 Strategic Planning Session included that KWUA staff increase board awareness and attention to activities in Salem and Sacramento. Consequently, in the future, state-level developments will be a regular agenda topic rather than ad hoc.

Litigation Update

The Executive Director reported that the only recent litigation development of consequence is that the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California has decided to deny a motion by the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) to dismiss a cross-claim filed against it by the United States. See September 2021 Waterworks, Executive Director’s Report, Litigation. A schedule has been set for summary judgment briefing and hearing in that case, with the hearing scheduled for November 9, 2022.

Water Policy Director Report

Economic Impacts and Drought Funding

Moss Driscoll noted that KWUA had received requests to prepare information on the economic impacts of 2021 Klamath Project operations. The assembled information was in the board packet. See related story above. KWUA will be looking to support more formal analysis for both 2021 and 2022.

Emergency Drought Well Permits

At this time, OWRD has no plans to issue emergency drought well permits for 2022. This is a critical concern and could adversely affect many people. KWUA intends to assemble information for the state to consider regarding this issue. Board members, including Rodney Cheyne, pointed out that OWRD’s own data calls into question whether there should be any concern with issuing the drought permits. Mr. Driscoll will lead our work on this issue.

Communication/Organizations Assistance

The board was asked to consider approval of a Scope of Work for the Klamath Project irrigation community which will be acted upon at the April meeting to confirm that this is an appropriate direction for KWUA as we advance forward. Members are asked to discuss the Scope with their individual districts.

Operations Committee

Operations Committee chair Gene Souza described and summarized key information shown in the slides that were attached to the agenda package. Klamath Irrigation District began its very deliberate water-up plan for A Canal, and as of March 9, the A Canal was receiving seven cubic feet per second. Brad Kirby also handed out some charts that he had just prepared, including information showing rapid recovery in groundwater levels in Tulelake Irrigation District (TID) this year. Using March 1 Natural Resources Conservation Service forecast, the Project Supply would be 126,000 AF if it were calculated today.

DC Report – The Ferguson Group

KWUA and TFG continue to work with your delegation on Capitol Hill and the federal agencies regarding KWUA’s priorities in 2022, including the urgent need to address the ESA re-consultation process, identify funding opportunities to support the DRA, preparations for 2022 operations, and to address operational needs through legislation related to anticipated dam removal on the Klamath River.

To that end, KWUA representatives recently met in person with DOI’s Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo and her team in Reno, Nevada, during the Family Farm Alliance Conference to discuss the critical water shortage facing the Basin and urged her to take action. Secretary Trujillo was receptive, and since that meeting, her staff has met with KWUA staff regarding ways to address critical water needs in the Project. Additional meetings are expected.

In addition, the Secretary of the Interior has initiated a series of virtual “roundtable” meetings among key stakeholders in the Basin. Of the two meetings held so far, over 100 people participated for part or all of both meetings. Mr. Simmons and key members of the KWUA board participated in the meetings. The initial purpose and focus of the meetings are to begin to develop consensus around, among other things, how best to apply significant environment and fisheries-related funding provided in the recently enacted federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The exact date of the next meeting has yet to be scheduled, but it is expected in the coming weeks.

In terms of new funding for the Basin, President Biden has signed into law the 2,741-page bill text for the $1.5 trillion FY 2022 omnibus spending package, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, which funds the federal government through September 30, 2022.

It is our understanding that approximately $10 million were included in the FY 2022 Bureau of Reclamation appropriation to be provided to the DRA. The process of distributing those funds has just begun, and we have been working with Reclamation officials across the agency to ensure these funds are released to the DRA soon.

From Your Districts

Upcoming Meetings

• Pioneer District Improvement Co. will hold its monthly Board of Directors meeting on April 4 @ 5:30 pm at the Keno Fire Department
• KWUA will hold its Annual Meeting for the public at large on April 12 @ 5 pm at the Klamath County Fairgrounds and its monthly regular board meeting on April 7 @ 2 pm
• Klamath Project Drought Response Agency will hold its mothly Board of Directors meeting April 13 @ 10 am in the KWUA boardroom
• Klamath Irrigation District will hold its monthly Board of Directors meeting on April 14 @ 10 am at the KID office
• Tulelake Irrigation Distrcit will hold its mothly Board of Diretors meeting on April 18 @ 8 pm at the TID office
• Klamath Drainage District will hold its monthly Board of Directors meeting on April 21 @ 1 pm at the KDD office

KID Notice & Announcement

During Klamath Irrigation District’s March 2022 Board of Directors meeting, the Board decided to put to vote the following question to our patrons:

“Pursuant to both our federal contract obligations and state water rights, do you want the district to attempt to deliver you water knowing it will likely complicate federal drought funding?”
This will be a “yes” or “no” vote conducted in person by patrons officially registered to vote with the District as outlined in Oregon Revised Statute Chapter 545. Ballots will be made available at the polling site.

The vote will take place at the Klamath Irrigation District HQ on 29 March 2022. A member of Klamath Irrigation District, who is a registered voter with the District, residing and/or owning land from Division 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 is eligible to vote. Please contact the KID office at 541-882 6661, located at 6640 KID Lane, Klamath Falls, to determine your voting eligibility.

In accordance with Oregon Revised Statute 545, the Board of Directors will hold a special board meeting on 4 April 2022 to canvas the results of the election.

Please contact our office if you have questions concerning the vote. We look forward to seeing you on 29 March between 7am and 8pm as you cast your ballot.

KID is Hiring! Bookkeeper Position Open

Minimum 3 years experience in Quickbooks, Excel, Word, accoutns payable/receivable, semi-monthly payroll, budgets, audits, monthly financial reports, reconciliation of accounts.

For complete job description and application go to klamathid.org. Applications are also available at Klamath Irrigation District Office, 6640 KID Lane, Klamath Falls, Oregon, 97603, Monday – Friday, 8 am – 4:30 pm. You can call the office 541.882.6661 for questions.

KID is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Klamath River Basin Conditions and Opportunities Hearing

On March 8, 2022, the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife (WOW) of the U.S. House of Representatives of the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing entitled “Klamath River Basin Conditions and Opportunities.” The Subcommittee gathered virtually to discuss potential timing and consequences of impacts of dam removal in the Klamath River as well as the challenges facing tribal interests and family farmers and ranchers, and wildlife in the Klamath Project during the ongoing drought. The WOW Subcommittee is chaired by Representative Jared Huffman of California, whose district includes areas of the Lower Klamath River Basin. The Committee’s Ranking Member is Representative Cliff Bentz, who represents the entire Oregon portion of the Basin. Representative Doug LaMalfa, a member of the Natural Resources Committee, also participated in the hearing.

For people living from the top of the Klamath Basin to the mouth where the Klamath River spills into the
Pacific Ocean, this is an emotional, important topic. Here in the Upper Basin, the last two years of water restrictions have been devastating to our local economy and communities and people even tangentially involved in agriculture. Dry, dusty fields getting blown by the wind combined with smoke from wildfires made the air hazardous for those with lung and heart problems, as well as the young and the elderly. In 2021, when the Klamath Project received a zero allocation of water, hundreds of domestic wells went dry, leaving people without a way to do the things we take for granted, such as drinking, cooking, and basic sanitation.

The burden has also punished our wildlife. The National Wildlife Refuges that provide a rest stop for avian travelers along the Pacific Flyway have dried up. Last year, TID pumped water from Tule Lake’s Sump 1A to Sump 1B in an attempt to avoid another outbreak of botulism as well as to save the surviving C’waam and Koptu populations. Looking at 2022, the Klamath Basin water crisis appears to be continuing.

Klamath Basin agriculture and Upper Basin communities were very fortunate to have two incredibly well-spoken representatives to testify in front of the WOW Subcommittee. First on our behalf was former KWUA President and fifth-generation farmer Tricia Hill. Ms. Hill’s impassioned testimony was impossible to ignore as she shared what the citizens living around the Klamath Project are experiencing with the ongoing drought. Her words covered the vast array of experiences in the Basin, from the angle of health and human safety to our now quiet nights. See her testimony click here.

Klamath, Modoc, and Siskiyou Counties were also well represented by Modoc County Supervisor, Geri Byrne. Following Hill’s more personal testimony, Supervisor Byrne discussed the importance Klamath Basin agriculture plays in the three counties’ socio-economics. With Reclamation withholding water from the Klamath Project in 2021, the diminished revenue impacted public safety and businesses throughout the region while causing harm to over 400 species of wildlife. Supervisor Byrne also spoke about the $162 million in funding provided in the recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for environmental restoration in the Klamath Basin. Echoing remarks made by Representative Bentz in his opening statement, Supervisor Byrne emphasized the need for the funding to go to well-thought-out plans submitted by the counties and other groups and avoid “random acts of conservation” which may not actually benefit the environment or economy.

The voices of Basin family farmers and ranchers and local governments need to be heard, and we are grateful that Representatives Bentz and LaMalfa gave our leaders the opportunity to share not only the plight of the people who live in the Klamath Basin, but also the impacts that the drought and Klamath Project shut-offs are having on our environment and the wildlife that share this land with us.

2022 Klamath County Farm Expo

The Klamath County Farm Bureau and the Klamath County Cattlewomen hosted the 2022 Farm Expo. Over a period of two days 1,510 fourth and fifth-grade students from throughout the Klamath Basin attended the Farm Expo held at the Klamath County Event Center. Due to COVID-19, the 2021 Expo was canceled, therefore, this year the invitation was extended to both fourth and fifth-grade students. Since the 1970’s, students have had an opportunity for hands-on learning about many different aspects of Klamath Basin agriculture, including 4-H, FFA, potato farming, cattle ranching, goats, irrigation water, grain, hay, dairy, bees, and many more.

Tulelake, Lakeview, Chiloquin, Peterson, Shasta, Conger, Mills, Pelican, Roosevelt, Bonanza, Keno, Merrill, Malin, Ferguson, Gilchrist, Crosspoint Christian, Stearns, and Henley all had students at the Farm Expo.

Chelsea Shearer, Hannah and Helena DuVal, and Rory and Mari Hill teamed up and spent two days talking to the 1,510 children about how much water it takes to produce a single school lunch. Surprisingly many kids did not know what irrigation water was and where it comes from. Relating that to school lunches was eye-opening.

During the two-day event, students moved around inside the Event Center, cycling through approximately 17 demonstrations. Students spent 6 minutes at each demonstration. When the dinner bell sounded, it was time to move to the next.

“Teaching the next generation about how important it is for farmers and ranchers to get their irrigation water is why we do this event,” says Ms. Shearer. “I love seeing the ‘ah-ha’ moments when they put together that water from Upper Klamath Lake makes the food here in the Basin. These kids are our future, and KWUA is going to do all we can to ensure we preserve their agricultural heritage.”

Comment Period for Dam Removal EIS

On February 25, 2022, FERC released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) related to its upcoming decision on whether to approve the surrender of the license and decommissioning for PacifiCorp’s four mainstem Klamath River hydroelectric dams. The deadline for comment on the DEIS is available at https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20220225-3040.

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