states participation previously critized kbra klamath 121009

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State’s participation previously criticized

Herald and News 12/10/09

Oregon state lawmakers representing the Klamath Basin criticized the state’s participation in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement months before irrigators off the Klamath Reclamation Project began suing the state over the same concerns.

State Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, raised his concerns about the closed-door nature of the talks during a legislative committee hearing in mid-February 2008. He said the discussions had violated state statute 539.310, which states any negotiation involving the state and a sovereign nation must be open to the public.

Off Project irrigators represented by the Resource Conservancy made that same argument when they said they filed a request with the administrative law judge overseeing the Basin’s water adjudication.

The irrigators said they asked the judge to throw out any settlement that resulted from the discussions and to bar the state from participating in them.

Mike Carrier, natural resources policy adviser to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, said the state has yet to see any motion from the Resource Conservancy.