KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement
Articles, Press Releases, Newsletters
2013


 

KBRA PAGE Strategy to form the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement: Cal/EPA Environmental Justice Action Plan May 18, 2005. Lead Agency: State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
   
State lawmakers confer in three-day session; Gail Whitsett in favor of independent OIT board. U.S. Rep Greg Walden addresses water quality rules. Klamath Tribes chairman Don Gentry visits White House, H&N 11/22/13. “President Obama has committed to following through with obligations to tribes and to honor treaties,” Gentry said. During the conference, Gentry spoke about the Mazama Forest acquisition at an economic tribal development breakout session. He said the session was an opportunity to open a dialogue about generating support and finding administrative consultants for the 90,000-acre acquisition, which is part of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement signed in 2010."
Klamath Basin water: (Klamath and Siskiyou counties) United against dam removal, H&N 9/30/13.

HEADLINES - Dorris Calif:  KBRA / KHSA alternatives joint meeting Sept 30, 2013 - Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors Joint public meeting with Klamath County Commissioners regarding Oregon Senator Wyden's Task Force, Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, and discuss alternatives to Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement and Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement to address water supply reliability for the Upper Basin, posted to KBC 9/27/13. 

Columbia and Klamath River Dam Facts, Senator Doug Whitsett 9/27/13. "...Advocates have long stated that the dams must come out in order to reestablish previous salmon numbers. Yet 2012 saw one of the largest, if not the largest Chinook salmon run ever recorded on the Klamath River. This year, salmon numbers are shaping up to surpass that record. The dams are still in the River and the water quality in the River has not changed. .."

Klamath Falls Mess: Judge denies livestock access to water, Western Montana Water Rights, and also Western Ag Reporter,  by Erika Bentsen, posted to KBC 8/13/13. "The tribes and government, hiding behind the skirts of the KBRA,  successfully divided the community by pitting farmer against rancher, and neighbor against neighbor.  The government and tribes learned from their  original failure when only one group was attacked.  By dangling incentives to some, they splintered their opposition...If these tribal claims are validated by the court system, no river in the country is safe..."

Klamath Basin task force to meet Aug 1 in Klamath Falls, H&N, posted to KBC 7/22/13. KBC NOTE: Tulelake Irrigation Manager and an assistant have not been informed of the Klamath Basin task force meeting Aug 1 and said they are not involved, so we have no confirmed details. We heard rumor that this is at OIT Thursday Aug. 1, and open to the public. Sens. Wyden and Merkley, Rep. Walden, and Gov. Kitzhaber Form Klamath River Basin Task Force, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden Press Release, posted to KBC 7/9/13.  Included are the list of 23 invited 'stakeholders.'
Klamath Task Force Invitation Letter, posted 7/9/13 
 

Congress weighs in on Klamath water crisis but isn't likely to act, Oregonian, posted to KBC 6/25/13.

(Oregon U.S. Senator) Wyden calls for new basin-wide solution to Klamath water issues, Wyden Press Release 6/20/13.
Archived video of the 6/20/13 hearing, testimony and a full list of witnesses are available here.
Klamath Tribes: Support the KBRA in exchange for water talks, Capital Press 6/20/13. "The leader of the Klamath Tribes told a U.S. Senate committee June 20 that ranchers facing water shutoffs in the Upper Klamath Basin would have to agree to provisions of a three-year-old basin restoration agreement to negotiate more water from the tribes." KBC Note: Klamath Tribe is presently denying  irrigation water to off-Project Klamath irrigators supposedly for the sacred sucker fish. However, if the irrigators agree to supporting the KBRA (which destroys 4 hydro dams on the Klamath River, gifts land to the tribes that they previously sold to build a sovereign land base, destroys a fish hatchery producing millions of salmon, and downsizes agriculture), then the tribe will allow off Project irrigators to discuss terms to get their water back.

*** Wyden invites comments (by June 19th) on water management in Klamath River Basin / KBRA, Democratic News, posted to KBC 6/15/13. KBC: the Senate hearing on the controversial KBRA/Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement /  and KHSA/Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement is June 20th. Email your comments on water management by June 19th!

*** LIST OF WITNESSES - Full Committee Hearing: water resource issues in the Klamath River Basin 6/20/13,  senate.gov KBC NOTE: of the 17 witnesses, 3 were chosen to testify who oppose destroying the Klamath River hydroelectric dams and fish hatchery, downsizing agriculture, and gifting land to the Klamath Tribes which they previously sold. One witness is Richard Roos-Collins: Sustainable NW paid NRI/National Heritage Institute $112,487 Richard Roos Collins, the legal services director for Natural Heritage Institute, which is a "non-profit law and science for global resource solutions" organization: www.n-h-i.org, is a participant in both the KBRA and Hydro meetings and is the main author of the actual KBRA. NRI represents "American Rivers and California Trout in an ongoing effort to decommission PacifiCorp’s Klamath River Project, so as to restore free passage from the Pacific Ocean more than 250 miles upstream to Upper Klamath Lake." Go HERE for NHI webpage and clients.
* KBC NOTE: The KBRA / KHSA litigation has begun. The tribes and KBRA supporters claimed their closed-door "agreements" would prevent lawsuits, however, as you can see below, the KBRA and KHSA dam removal schemes have a built-in process HOW to litigate.
Karuk Tribe documents of litigation against PacifiCorp, reposted to KBC 6/3/13
, sent by Craig Tucker, Karuk tribal spokesman. "PacifiCorp must abandon its current use of algaecidal treatments as a means to address water quality issues based on i) the results of the 2012 pilot project ii) technical comments from the Karuk Tribe and other IMIC members, and iii) the opposition to application of chemical treatments to the Klamath River from Tribes based on religious and cultural grounds."  KHSA notice by facilitator Ed Sheets KBC NOTE: algae in Klamath River reservoirs in a major reason Tucker claims the dams must be removed.
rerun: Solution save Klamath Dams: To the attention of Mr. Craig Tucker, fellow (anti-dam) campaigners and Klamath Water Users, from Sean McKinney, Australia,  7/4/07. (KBC note: Australian company offered solution for algae removal, California Regional Water Quality Control Board scientist said it could fix the algae problem but blamed Upper Basin for the water quality problems, and Karuk spokesman Craig Tucker said it the algae and health problems are solved, he still wants the Klamath Dams out.)
Senate hearing called for water issues; Goal of discussions to gather input from Klamath Basin residents, H&N 5/17/13. "Glen Spain, regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of the Fisherman’s Association / PCFFA and the Institute of Fisheries Resources, is spending the week in Washington, D.C., providing information on the Basin’s complex issues." KBC NOTE: PCFFA sued against Klamath irrigators...
Part 1 - Klamath River Dam Removal: Boaters, property owners see holes in taking out hydroelectric dams, H&N, posted to KBC 5/15/15 Klamath Tribal Council address to Off-Project community, by tribal Vice-Chairman Don Gentry, posted to KBC 5/15/13
Commissioners oppose dam removal; Counties join forces to write letter to new Interior Secretary, H&N, posted to KBC 5/11/13. "Klamath County Commissioners are joining the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors in sending a letter to new Interior Secretary Sally Jewell urging her and the department to abandon the Klamath River agreements and the proposed dam removal...."

Water war between Klamath River farmers, tribes poised to erupt, LA Times, posted to KBC 5/8/13. "Tom Mallams, a hay farmer and tea party member from Beatty, Ore., who was elected Klamath County Commissioner in November, said the new tribal water rights are being used as a hammer to try to force opponents to sign on to the deal. The supporters of this are desperate," he said. "They're making a last-ditch effort to make it go through right now because they know it's dying. I think some people will sign on to it in sheer desperation, but there is no trust in those agreements."

A series of harmonious partnerships in Klamath Basin surface in lieu of KBRA, H&N 4/4/13. Features Klamath Water Users Association, The Nature Conservancy, Klamath Tribes, in partnership with Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, Klamath Soil and Water Conservation District, Sustainable NW, UKWUA, NRCS, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  HERE for controversial KBRA page.

Oregon Water Fight Revives - Klamath Falls, Wall Street Journal, posted to KBC 4/30/13

Interior EIS recommends removal of Klamath River Dams; Congressional approval required, 4/5/13.  KBC NOTE: After 7 Klamath fish scientists were censored and coerced, the top federal ethics scientist was fired by his boss (who worked for Dept of Interior who was in a KBRA environmentalist stakeholder group,) and after booting out any group from the KBRA "stakeholders" that opposed Klamath dam removal or giving land to the tribes that they sold, the remaining KBRA stakeholders and scientists eagerly support the plan to destroy dams, downsize agriculture, plant endangered fish in the warm shallow Klamath Lake, and ignore the will of the constituents......Our tax dollars, inflated water bills and power rates at work.
A series of harmonious partnerships in Klamath Basin surface in lieu of KBRA, H&N 4/4/13. Features Klamath Water Users Association, The Nature Conservancy, Klamath Tribes, in partnership with Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust, Klamath Soil and Water Conservation District, Sustainable NW, UKWUA, NRCS, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  HERE for controversial KBRA page. Siskiyou County Water Users Association April Newsletter, Save the Dams, Save the Salmon 4/6/13

Klamath County Commissioners 3/12/13 agenda item J-3 voting on intention to withdraw from the KBRA and KHSA, 9:00 AM.

Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement/dam removal agreement; Can they do that?, H&N 3/10/13.
Followed by:
What does KBRA say about opting out?
What's next for the KBRA?
Will the commissioners decision effect dam removal?
Reactions to the commissioner's decision?
How to guarantee water.

KBC News Note - in a nutshell: Klamath County ousted 3 pro-KBA commissioners in the past 2 elections and voted in 3 commissioners who oppose the KBRA. Citizens were denied a vote on whether they supported or opposed the KBRA so they voted for these 3 men to represent them. KCC voted to withdraw from the KBRA. Herald and News supports the KBRA, and the the above link contains their stories. Siskiyou County were allowed a vote and they voted to oppose it. Dozens of environmental groups, government agencies, tribes and Klamath Water Users Association are demanding Klamath County remain in the controversial dam-removal KBRA against the wishes of their constituents.

Largest U.S. dam removal releases huge amount of sediment, Yale Environment 360. "Scientists tracking the aftermath of the largest dam removal in U.S. history say the dismantling of a dam in northwestern Washington state has unleashed about 34 million cubic yards of sediment and debris...sediment — enough to fill 3 million truckloads — could create murkier water conditions, threatening the reproduction of salmon and blocking light for marine life."
Report: Dam removal good for Klamath salmon; $1 billion project would be biggest dam removal in U.S. history, H&N 2/5/13 posted to KBC 3/4/13. KBC NOTE: This report came out after Dep't of Interior fired 7 Klamath River whistleblowers whose science did not agree with Interiors predetermined dam removal agenda and certainly did not include scientific findings by those federal-scientist whistleblowers. HERE for Scientific Misconduct Page.
Legal flap erupts over (Klamath) county's exit from KBRA, Capital Press 3/7/13. PRESS RELEASE: Klamath County Commissioners vote to withdraw from KBRA/KHSA, KCC 2/27/13

<p>Klamath County Commissioners decided Tuesday to withdraw from the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.</p>County withdraws from KBRA; Commissioners voice concerns over impact on Klamath’s economy, H&N 2/27/13

2/27/13 - VIDEO of Klamath County Commissioners weekly meetings.  February 12 was the meeting where 70 people spoke for and against county support of the KBRA. February 26 the commissioners voted against supporting the KBRA and explained their reasons. 

Board postpones KBRA decision, H&N 2/20/13. "Klamath County Commissioners postponed making any decisions on the board’s stance on the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement until at least next week. The KBRA was on the agenda of the commissioners’ regular meeting Tuesday, but given the 600-some emails and letters the board received last week, the commissioners said they needed more time to review."
Bellet talks thin line on KBRA, H&N 2/20/13

Klamath County to withdraw from KBRA, H&N 2/26/13

KBRA divide floods commissioners, H&N 2/13/13. “In my opinion you, the Klamath County commissioners, were elected in part because of your stance against the KBRA, and the previous commissioners were voted out in part because of their pro-KBRA views...the agreements ... happened in a closed-door process that give no guarantees for water or power rates."

KBRA revisited by NEW Klamath County Commissioners: On Tuesday, February 12, 9:00 AM. 3 new commissioners were voted in, all opposing the KBRA. They are giving the public an opportunity to voice their opinion on their participation in the KBRA.

Public Comments on KBRA until 5 p.m. Friday Feb 15.

Commissioners plan to tackle KBRA issues, board set a public comment period for Tuesday morning, 2/10/13

Klamath signatories hope Congress acts on water pact, Capital Press, posted to KBC 1/12/11

All sign on KBRA extension, Water, dam agreement deadline extended to 2014, H&N posted to KBC 1/11/13

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