KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement
Articles, Press Releases, Newsletters 2011
Agreement fuels Klamath discord, Capital Press 6/10/10

 

KBRA PAGE     

 

"The Klamath Bucket Brigade is adamantly opposed to the Klamath Basin Restoration agreement and to the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement as they are currently constituted. The agreements represent a minority of special interest groups and spreads the cost to every U.S. taxpayer. The Klamath Bucket Brigade Board of Trustees will support an agreement backed by a majority of the residents of the entire Klamath River Basin and that assures all property and water rights are protected." Board members include: Dan Nielsen, Barbara (Hall) Ambers, Shirley Kerns, Bob King, Barron Knoll, Mike Tyrholm, Bill Morris, Steve Cheyne, Frank Wallace. August 2011

 

Klamath Agreement: HATCHERY FOR STREAMS OF KLAMATH. Fishway Over Copco Dam Found to be Impracticable, by J.C. Boyle.   
   
 

Klamath dams: County’s comments in, by John Bowman, Siskiyou Daily News, December 27, 2011


(Klamath KBRA) Agreement opponent will keep fighting, H&N 12/9/11. "The Beatty-area resident (Tom Mallams) announced last month his candidacy for Klamath County commissioner.,, '(KBRA) needed to deliver assurance of water, it needed to deliver protection from the ESA and it needed to deliver affordable power,' he said about the agreement. 'It doesn’t deliver any of those.' ”
  VIDEO - New Ruling Grants Klamath Tribes Water Rights, December 5, 2011 KDRV
Adjudication confirms Tribes’ water rights, H&N 12/4/11
The impact of adjudication on irrigators, H&N 12/4/11
Tom Mallams sent this addition to KBC: "
There are going to be winners and losers in the adjudication, That's just the way it is. In the KBRA, however there would be a couple of major winners, tribes, environmental groups and the government agencies, and ALL THE REST OF US, irrigators taxpayers ratepayers and the entire Klamath river Basin environment, are all major losers. Tom"
Rerun: What caused salmon deaths? by Barry Clausen, Siskiyou Daily News 2/16/03. KBC NOTE: The KBRA is largely based on the myth that low flows killed some of the huge fish run in 2002 at the Trinity River diversion, despite evidence to the contrary as detailed in Clausen's article. HERE is KBC Fish Die-off Page
Klamath Water Users updates written before the 2002 Klamath River fish die-off warning that more warm water may harm fish, along with National Research Council comments.
Sheriff attends meeting in Medford, posted to KBC 11/25/11 KSYC Joe Show.

East Side (Klamath Project) irrigation districts oppose Klamath Basin Restoration legislation, H&N, posted to KBC 11/21/11

Klamath dams: City of Yreka weighs in, Siskiyou Daily 11/23/11

(Klamath dam removal) bill must pass House committees, H&N 11/20/11. "Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., is chairman of a Natural Resources subcommittee, Water and Power, which will play a key role in advancing or killing legislation…'To tear down four perfectly good hydroelectric dams at enormous cost is insane,'  McClintock said in September."

WHY Destroy the Klamath River? > Obama administration 'bailed out' GM salmon firm, Campaigners say $500,000 grant was made to AquaBounty despite evidence that the firm could soon run out of cash, Guardian, UK, posted to KBC 11/14/11. KBC NOTE: Following is Fishlink's/PCFFA information that these fish could jeopardize wild fish stocks. Then comes an article explaining how Michael Taylor, Monsanto's super lobbiest, is now Obama's FDA Food Czar. Followed by links of George Soros huge investment in Monsanto, and huge investment in Obama's election. Soros funds Earthjustice, who pays the legal fees of the environmental groups in the KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement. All the while the Obama administration supports the KBRA, which will hugely permanently downsize agriculture and demolish fish hatcheries and 4 hydroelectic dams and on the Klamath, releasing 20 million cubic yards of sediment. 20 MILLION cubic yards; think about it! Dam removal was in the guise of having "Wild" salmon propagate, thus destroying millions of hatchery salmon. This will destroy every living creature, then comes Obama's Frankenfish, but could it find it's was through 20 million cubic yards of muck?

" Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, the Wilderness Society, Trout Unlimited, the Yurok tribe, and Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA) held a press conference outside the Interior Department building in Washington, D.C., to announce their lawsuit against BuRec and the NMFS for violating the Endangered Species Act. Thompson had the Yuroks ship out 500 pounds of dead salmon with which he and his fellow plaintiffs festooned the park across from the Interior building. So rancid was the shipment that Federal Express at first refused to deliver it." 10/2/02.

July 17, 2003 Congressman Thompson at congressional hearing supporting Congressman Blumenauer's (D) amendment to end farming on the FWS refuge lands (Waterfowl eat 70 million pounds of food here, and more than half comes from the farms.) Opposing this 'willing seller' deal were Republican Congressmen Greg Walden, Wally Herger, Doc Hastings, John Doolittle, and Mr Goodlatte. Relatively few Tulelake farmers supported Thompson's agenda.
11/10/11 Merkley's Press Release: Senator Merkley-D, Representative Mike Thompson-D, introduce Klamath Basin Economic Restoration Act

  KBRA supporter Jason Chapman was strongly defeated by KBRA opponent Grant Knoll for the KID/Klamath Irrigation District board of directors
Homeowners concerned about erosion, dry wells after (Condit) dam breach, KATU News, posted to KBC 11/12/11. "Before the 127-foot dam was breached, a dock floated on Northwestern Lake. Now it sits upon dry ground, and the lake has been replaced with a muddy canyon, 80 feet deep in some areas...In addition to losing their lake, homeowners say they have also lost water to their houses...But lease holders and private property owners said the last word they got from PacifiCorp is that the company won't pay a penny."
Rep. Tom McClintock released the following statement in response to Klamath legislation expected to be introduced by Sen. Merkley, 10/10/11. "“Amidst spiraling electricity prices and chronic electricity shortages the effort to tear down four perfectly good hydroelectric dams at enormous cost to ratepayers and taxpayers is insane. These dams produce up to 155 megawatts of the cleanest and cheapest electricity on the planet – enough for 155,000 homes..."
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA-1) today (11/10/11) jointly introduced the Klamath Basin Economic Restoration Act in the Senate and House which authorizes the implementation of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) Merkley's Press Release: Senator Merkley-D, Representative Mike Thompson-D, introduce Klamath Basin Economic Restoration Act
HERE is the legislation
KBRA / HERE are people's voices
, polls, articles, testimony, speeches, litigation, documents, and Whose Who behind the $ supporting the dam removal and downsizing ag agenda.

YREKA - 8 Northern California Sheriffs Form Coalition Against Tyranny, DailyPaul 11/1/11. Full length YouTube videos of Sheriffs' speeches.
YREKA, California -
Rural Rebellion Brewing, San Francisco Examiner 11/1/11. KBC Photo. "Their latest battle is to stop destruction of four hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River – an action driven by environmentalists and the Obama administration. Most locals say the dam-busting will undermine their property rights and ruin the local farming and ranch economy, which is all that's left since environmental regulators destroyed the logging and mining industries...Unemployment rates are in the 20-percent-and-higher range. Nearly 79 percent of the county's voters in a recent advisory initiative opposed the dam removal, but that isn't stopping the authorities from blasting the dams anyway."

Bill would lead to dam removal from Klamath River, Mercury News and Sacramento Bee, 11/10/11, followed by Many Comments"What I don't see is the names George Soros and Warren Buffet's names connected to the dam removal. George Soros funds..." Fox News fails Siskiyou Farmers, posted 11/1/11, Tea Party Hobbits.
What rights does PacifiCorp have? Capital Press 10/28/11. "The decision to remove the dams is a political decision," Oregon state Sen. Doug Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, told state and federal officials during a public hearing on the dam removal project Oct. 18. "It's not based on science and it's certainly not based on economics."

Environmental Groups Host Forum to Better Educate the Public About Klamath Settlements, Two Rivers Trubune 10/26/11. "Four panelists expressed support of removal of four Klamath River dams but aired their doubts about the attached agreements. They included, from the left, Pat Higgins, a fishery biologist; Andrew Orahoske, conservation director of EPIC; Hayley Hutt, a council member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe; and Bob Hunter, from Oregon WaterWatch."
KBC NOTE: Perfect Example of Good Cop Bad Cop in the KBRA: EPIC, WaterWatch, North Coast Environmental Center, Klamath Riverkeeper all have the same attorney  Earthjustice, paid partly by George Soros.   These groups are in several coalitions together, yet at these meetings the charade is some oppose, some support the KBRA. Environmental activist Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Tribe, is also board member of Klamath Riverkeeper which was spawned in Klamath Forest Alliance. As the Hoopa tribe and WaterWatch oppose the KBRA, Tucker, an instigator and strong supporter of the KBRA, says once the dams are out he'll support the tribes getting more of what they want: “We need you guys to help us. We don’t think the agreements solve everything but the Karuk Tribe and I will be with you on those fights.”
Tucker was
formerly Friends of the River spokesman, an international dam removal group, and supports destroying Klamath Dams along with his coalitions, regardless of the consequences: "20 million cubic yards of sediment. ...is equivalent to about 2 million ten yard dump truck loads of silt, sediment and organic muck. To put that amount into perspective, lined up head to tail, 2 million dump truck loads of river muck would stretch about 12,500 miles…..about half way around the planet," (Senator Whitsett)

  Northwest – NOAA Fisheries Releases Klamath River Basin: 2011 Report to Congress 10/24/11
Klamath Bucket Brigade showed up to support those of us who oppose the removal of Klamath dams.
Oct 21, 2011 Defend Rural America
Photo by Tom Wetter,
The Klamath Bucket
Clifford Munson, CEO of Siskiyou Golden Fair, talks with Tom Mallams, president of Off-Project Klamath Farmers Alliance, in front of the marquee at the fairgrounds in Yreka on Oct. 21 before federal agencies held an Environmental Impact Statement on Klamath dams removal meeting. Public was able to give up to 3 minutes of comment on the EIS, which includes a state Environmental Impact Report, and is 2,000 pages long. More than 75 percent of the 70 people who gave comment were AGAINST dam removal.

YREKA - Almost 300 attend Klamath dams hearing, Siskiyou Daily 10/24/11. KBC NOTE: Of those who spoke, 54 were against and 15 for Klamath Dam Removal and the KBRA

Report: Dam removal could jeopardize Yreka’s water supply, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 10/14/11
10/8/11: KBC corrections and explanations in response to criticisms, of our 8/29 notes of TID groundwater management plan meeting, by TID and Family Farm Alliance Executive Director and engineer Dan Keppen. There are also some notes from TID's 9/20 public meeting, and the Water for Power meeting quotes and audio, by KBC editor. (Groundwater management plan is mandated in the KBRA).
KLAMATH DAM REMOVAL - "We desperately need to be heard," by John Bowman, Siskiyou Daily 10/4/11. “We’re looking at losing half the value of our property. That’s our retirement...” “Dams don’t kill fish. Fishermen kill fish...” "“We’ve been ignored and cut out of a process that will deeply affect us."
Monday Oct 3, Klamath Falls, meeting about signing up for cheaper power rater for irrigators, "Water For Power" (Approximetely 50 people attended this meeting.
Below is the audio and some quotes from the Tulelake meeting:
AUDIO 9/28/11 - Klamath Basin "Power for Water Agreement" Holly Cannon, KWAPA / Klamath Water and Power Agency (power part of the KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement), Executive Director, held meeting in Tulelake to urge irrigators to sign onto the "low-cost power for water" agreement..."...that's what the KBRA is about, is bringing "low-cost power..."
Cannon: "What you're giving up is water to get affordable power."
Q "What is the acre feet that we're giving away for this cheaper power rate?"
A  Cannon: "I'd say 20-25%, but it varies year to year.....What you're giving up is water to get affordable power...KWAPA is doing an On-Project plan that is designing how you're going to give up water..." 
Q "What happens if we find out with the program it looks good, then all of a sudden it could be higher than the tariff rate? You can't guarantee what that rate's going to be."
Cannon, "We can't guarantee it."
Q "It might not be that golden egg ...and the landlord says, 'no I don't want this,' and then he's stuck with it... and then it could be a liability problem too." 
Cannon, "it could be,"  
Q "and then he  comes back on whoever signs the contract."

Cannon, "yeah."
There is more discussion and clarification by Cannon, Tulelake Irrigation District manager Earl Donosky, and Klamath Water Users Association President Gary Wright regarding the benefits of the KBRA, and also discussion about prerogatives of PacifiCorp.
<  Klamath Falls, Oregon - "Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) opponent's sign is destroyed outside Chiloquin, Oregon community center during KBRA's Klamath Water and Power Agency (KWAPA) public informational meeting on Monday. The battle to save 4 hydroelectric and agriculture dams on the Klamath River takes a step towards violence by the environmentalists," from Mike King. Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and Notice of Public Hearings for Klamath Facilities Removal, 9/22/11 Oct 18, 2011, 4:30-8 p.m Klamath Falls Public Hearing KBRA
Klamath dams: Real estate repercussions (of dam destruction)? Siskiyou Daily News 9/22/11. (KBC Note: Siskiyou County is home of 3 of the 4 Klamath River dams targeted for destruction, opposed by about 80% of Siskiyou voters.) " DOI Press Release: Salazar announces release of Klamath dam removal studies 9/21/11. "flood risks...impacts of juvenile fish populations...loss in recreation opportunities...decrease in property values...loss in hydroelectric power generation (for) 70,000 homes..."
Tribes: Trimmed budget hits benefits, H&N 9/20/11. "What we want are the dams out,” Tucker said. “The water quality is horrible, our fishery is suffering. … Everything we cut out was important, but nothing is more important than getting the dams out.” HERE for Tucker bio and articles. Trained by GreenCorp, and outreach director of Friends of the River, his stated goal is, "removal of four dams on the Klamath River which would represent the largest dam removal project in history." His activist training was invaluable to pull off the KBRA "agreement" with farmers. See article Learning from the (dam removal activist) Pros Report: Dam removal will create jobs, H&N 9/20/11. "The tone of (Salazar’s) speech seems to me to dismiss concerns of a broad majority that maintain well-founded reservation regarding dam removal,” said state Sen. Doug Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls. "Whitsett said he would reserve specific comments until he read the full draft environmental impact study, but said, “Dams and sediment can’t be removed for $290 million.” KBC NOTE: According to the KBRA On Project plan there are "conservation easements, forbearance agreements, conjunctive use programs, efficiency measures, land acquisitions, water acquisitions..." with the KBRA dam-removal scheme. How do these create hundreds of "agricultural" jobs according to Secretary Salazar?
Resolution proposed in Tulelake Irrigation District case (regarding KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement), Siskiyou Daily, posted to KBC 9/18/11
Dam removal in Washington part of growing movement, Banger Daily News, posted to KBC 9/18/11. "What once seemed radical is now mainstream,” said American Rivers President Bob Irvin, whose group has advocated dam removal for environmental reasons. “All of these are experiments in how nature can restore itself, and the Elwha is the biggest example of that.” The pace of removal has quickened, with 241 dams demolished between 2006 and 2010, a more than 40 percent increase over the previous five years...A drumbeat of litigation by tribes and environmental groups has pushed federal officials to dismantle some dams that otherwise would have remained in place. (KBC NOTE: American Rivers is an exclusive KBRA stakeholder voting member. George Soros helps fund Earthjustice, who pays for American Rivers attorney fees. Earthjustice also pays the bills for other environmental groups on the KBRA "stakeholder" voting members, and also those opposed, yet all in the same coalitions: PCFFA, Klamath Wildlands, Karuk Tribe, Oregon Wild, ....." Some are still in litigation against Klamath Basin irrigators. American Rivers and many KBRA voting "stakeholders" and opposing groups are in the coalition to destroy the Snake and Colombia River dams.
NEW: Deadline Oct 7 - Klamath Basin Power Alliance / KBPA-Alliance begins seeking stable power rate, Number of participants will determine power load from Bonneville, H&N 9/15/11. Attend meetings from Sept. 19 - Oct. 3: what you must to to be allowed the cheaper power rate. "The affordable power program, administered by the nonprofit Klamath Basin Power Alliance, is part of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement’s effort to reduce — or at least stabilize — power rates for irrigators...The KBRA is a controversial agreement that aims to establish sustainable water supplies and affordable power rates for irrigators, restore fish habitats, and help the Klamath Tribes acquire a 92,000-acre parcel of private timberland, the Mazama Tree Farm (KBC NOTE: and the KBRA requires 4 Klamath River hydroelectric dams serving 70,000 households to be destroyed.) Around the end of the year, the agency will name a rate and the alliance will have written restoration requirements"
Tribes say Klamath project budget reductions violate pact; Tribes want fisheries funded to restore original level, Capital Press,  9/15/11. "Fisheries restoration, reintroduction and monitoring were cut from $493.8 million to $421.5 million, although money for tribes was increased from $65.25 million to $87 million."
 

Punching holes in the concrete; The Northwest is about to witness the largest dam removals in U.S. history, posted to KBC 8/28/11, by The Oregonian Editorial Board. the dams coming down now have no fish passage and generate enough electricity to power a few thousand homes." KBC NOTE: The Klamath dams alone targeted to be destroyed serve 70,000 households. This is more than "a few thousand homes;" the Oregonian knows better.

Feds award California tribe $1M for visitor center, Indian Country, posted to KBC 9/15/11

Tulelake Irrigation District will be developing an On-Project Ground Water Management Plan. Public Hearing  August 29th, 9 a.m. This is a mandate in the KBRA. FOLLOWED BY AB 3030. "They must publish the resolution of intention." KBC NOTE: TID put this notice in the Herald and News amongst the legal section in back of the paper. It was not send to landowners or irrigators.

 

PUBLIC MEETING: Initial Meeting of the On-Project Plan Advisory Committee (OPPAC) for the KBRA 8/24/11.

Future Electric Rates, by Klamath County Commissioner Linthicum 8/18/11. Rerun: Tribes dammed Klamath, Klamath Courier by Liz Bowen posted to KBC 6/2/05 "1851 journal states Klamath River ran putrid from dead salmon."
Tulelake Irrigation District will be developing an On-Project Ground Water Management Plan. Public Meeting August 29th, 9 a.m. This is not a California Law, but mandate in the KBRA.
* HERE for
Measures Related to Groundwater For the purpose of the On-Project Plan in the KBRA, and No Adverse Impact.
* Engineers hired by KWAPA / Klamath Water And Power Agency are MBK Engineering and Dan Keppen and Associates. Dan Keppen is Family Farm Alliance director, and former director of Klamath Water Users Assoc., KWUA
* Dan Keppen addressed Senate on Klamath Basin water transfers, Secure Water Act and Water Conservation Initiative 3/16/10. "
Another area of focus in our report will include water markets and transfers, where we would like to provide examples of successful efforts, identify where there are impediments to success, and describe where adverse impacts negated such benefits. These studies will help form the framework for Alliance policy on water transfers, which will be advanced in the agricultural / urban / environmental water sharing coalition we are involved with in the Colorado River Basin. We are already assembling work for transfer programs undertaken in the Central Valley (CALIFORNIA), in the Klamath Basin (CALIFORNIA / OREGON), in Southern California, and along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains (COLORADO).”
 
PUBLIC MEETING: Initial Meeting of the On-Project Plan Advisory Committee (OPPAC) for the KBRA 8/24/11. Klamath River subject of climate study, H&N, posted to KBC 8/7/11. "The two-year, $1.955 million study will explore the potential effect of climate change on water supplies for agriculture and fish..."
Study Downgrades Hydroelectric Reservoirs’ Impact On Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Columbia Basin Bulletin, posted to KBC 8/7/11 Idaho Plans Study Of Building Dam/Reservoir On Weiser River; Cites Salmon Recovery Benefits, CBB, posted to KBC 8/7/11
Removing Barriers to Salmon Migration, New Your Times 8/2/11. "It will demolish two massive hydroelectric dams...Chinook here once grew as big as 100 pounds, and experts say they should reach that size again...The total cost, $350 million...Four dams are scheduled to be removed in the Klamath River in southern Oregon in 2020 (which service 70,000 households)...Many conservationists see this as momentum for more ambitious goals, most notably their push to breach four dams on the Lower Snake River in eastern Washington that provide electricity, water and a channel for barge traffic between the ocean and the powerful agricultural interests inland. Their hopes increased when President Obama recently nominated Rebecca Wodder, the former president of American Rivers, which has pushed for dam removal on the Snake and elsewhere, to become assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks."
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation provides funding for Klamath River (Climate Change) study,  ($1,944,000) The Times-Standard July 21, 2011. (KBC NOTE: You can thank our farm leaders for supporting the KBRA for this gov't funded study. The KBRA makes provisions to reevaluate how much water farmers will receive based on the study; one more way to eradicate the farmers and ranchers)
WaterSMART: Recently, the Secretary of the Interior announced that $1,944,000 would be going to studying the Klamath River Basin under the WaterSMART program, column in Siskiyou Daily News by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 8/2/11
Klamath River subject of climate study, H&N, posted to KBC 8/7/11. "The two-year, $1.955 million study will explore the potential effect of climate change on water supplies for agriculture and fish..."
Dam Idiots Caught Using Junk Science on Klamath River, posted to KBC 7/4/11. "According to the just-released 350-page assessment, funded by the Fish and Wildlife Service, experts expressed “strong reservations” that the expensive effort could significantly increase the Chinook salmon population in the Klamath River system...As usual, the environmentalists were caught ginning up their case to destroy the dams using phony data. In this case they concocted an imperfect computer-generated model to cast the dams as evil salmon-killers." Klamath Dam Removal Studies Meeting in Orleans, Two Rivers Tribune 7/13/11

Dam removal ‘a major step forward,’ but water agreement habitat restoration goals may not be achievable, H&N 6/28/11

***Klamath River Expert Panel Final Report; Scientific Assessment of Two Dam Removal Alternatives on Chinook Salmon, posted 6/26/22. Document date 6/13/11.
* PCFFA rep Glen Spain assures panel that the KBRA downsizes Upper Klamath Basin ag significantly more than the Biological Opinions, and that ESA trumps KBRA, whichever takes most water from irrigators.
* Yurok Tribe:
"removing the dams and the hatchery is the only “experiment” that can be conducted that will resolve this uncertainty. It seems prudent to recommend resolving this uncertainty by moving forward with the “experiment” of the Proposed Action, while acknowledging the potential for unintended consequences...”
* Yurok: The KBRA will also control use of groundwater, "even on the California side."
* KWUA does not like the study of KENO Dam, which their KBRA friends promised not to take out. That would end irrigation on 100,000 acres of Klamath Project land. They didn't like the scientists "
general disdain for irrigated agriculture." 

Scientists find holes in Klamath River dam removal plan,  $1.4-billion project — dismantling four hydroelectric dams to restore Chinook salmon runs in the upper Klamath River — amounts to an experiment with no guarantee of success, independent report says. L. A Times 6/25/11.

The Feds come to Orleans: focus shifts to Keno Dam and Reservoir, by Felice Pace, Klamath Blog 6/17/11. (KBC NOTE: Now that the Klamath Basin farm leaders have made a deal with the environmental groups and feds to rip out 4 Klamath River Dams with no transparency and no vote from their constituents, does it come as a surprise that those within the environmental coalitions bent on removal of dams, mining, logging and farming, are now targeting the Keno Dam which allows Klamath Basin irrigators to irrigate?)
KBRA Divide / (Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement,) H&N, posted to KBC 5/23/11
Could the wrong opinion on water cost you your business? "Bob Gasser won’t take sides on the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement."
HERE for KBRA supporters on Steve Kandra / Becky Hyde PROSPER website.
Restoration agreement is only plan in the works, by Patsy Gasser, H&N letter to editor, followed by comments from H&N website, 5/26/09.
Bob Gasser: Involved in irrigation politics again, H&N 3/14/08. "He acknowledges that some Upper Basin irrigators aren’t happy with the settlement plan, which calls on them to idle 30,000 acre-feet of water. Gasser says they’ve made concessions before, taking about 90,000 acres out of production — the Barnes, Wood and Agency ranches along with other land — and weren’t rewarded with stable river flows and lake levels. “We sold out our neighbors,” Gasser says. “That land should still be in production. I understand why the Upper Basin is upset.”
KBRA Divide: Relationships strained by position, H&N, posted to KBC 5/23/11
KBRA Divide; Advocacy groups on both sides moving forward, H&N posted to KBC 5/22/11
KBRA Divide: Supporters work to reduce cost, H&N 5/23/11. "Seus said. 'Some of the people that represent us understand us. My representative (Rep. Wally Herger, R Calif.) in particular doesn’t have a clue. The rest know how (KBRA) started and how it came to be.'  (KBC note: Republican leaders supporting the amendment opposing the Klamath hydropower dam destruction studies are California U.S. Congressman Tom McClintock, Calif. U.S. Congressman Wally Herger, and Oregon U.S. Congressman Greg Walden.)
  Environmental groups urge Klamath water quality regulations; Klamath settlement parties anticipate legislation this month, Times-Standard, posted to KBC 5/16/11
Ratepayers Will Pay For Removal Of PacifiCorp's Klamath Basin Dams, OPB, posted to KBC 5/14/11. "Craig Tucker: “What we would get if these deals are seen to their end is the cheapest possible power rates and an increase in salmon." KBC NOTE: Karuk Tribe spokesman Tucker was trained by Green Corp as an environmental activist and organizer, was former Outreach Director at Friends of the River (dam removal organization,) and founder/board member of Klamath Riverkeeper. Tucker is at the KBRA/Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement negotiation table as a "stakeholder" for the Karuk Tribe. George Soros funds Earthjustice which litigates for Klamath Riverkeeper, Friends of the River, Waterkeeper Alliance, PCFFA, and other environmental groups at the KBRA negotiation table. Regarding Tucker's claim of "cheapest possible power rates," will destroying clean hydropower dams serving 70,000 households provide cheap rates? Before the Klamath Project was built, Link River often went dry in the fall. Will that, with tons of sediment, produce "increase in salmon"? Where are the salmon in this 1900 picture?

Why Don't We Hear About Soros' Ties to Over 30 Major News Organizations? opinion Fox News, posted to KBC 5/12/11. "Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has ties to more than 30 mainstream news outlets – including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC."  KBC Note: HERE for Soros funds to organizations in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
Zeke Grader, PCFFA/Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen statement to House committees on Ag and Natural Resources, posted to KBC 5/12/11. KBC NOTE: Page 12, PCFFA writes joint letter to Council on Environmental Quality co-signed by other environmental groups including Earthjustice (George Soros funded).

PacifiCorp seeks ITPs for Klamath dam operations, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 5/11/11. " NEPA document for Klamath Dams and Pacificorp May 2011
The Big Picture part 2, by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong, posted to KBC 5/14/11. Armstrong documents how the UN and ICNU, with designated roadless areas and wilderness areas, were formed to shut down human use of land and resources in the Klamath River Basin.
HERE for the Big Picture part 1.

Here is the link for Armstrong's research on Agenda 21 Rewilding or HERE

The Big Picture Part I, by Marcia Armstrong, Siskiyou County Supervisor, posted to KBC 5/11/11. "I was struck by a sentence in the recent “chinook expert panel” report commissioned for the dam removal studies. It said: “Furthermore, the refuges should be managed for fish and wildlife versus agriculture...

< Is Removing dams good for us ?????

 

California PUC approves (Klamath) dam removal surcharge, Siskiyou Daily News 5/6/11. "Thursday’s decision by the CPUC will solidify the $13.76 million surcharge for California customers, to be assessed over a nine-year period, resulting in an estimated $1.61 increase to the average monthly customer bill."

 

 

Chinook salmon could get endangered species protection, Petition passes; year-long review process begins, H&N, followed by Agency will examine Klamath Chinook listing, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 4/14/11. (KBC NOTE: each plaintiff, KLAMATH SISKIYOU WILDLANDS CENTER; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INFORMATION CENTER; KLAMATH FOREST ALLIANCE; CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY" is supported by Earthjustice, supported by George Soros. They also oppose salvage logging trees burnt up in a fire. Same force and $ behind the NGO's in the KBRA.)
 

Scientists: Dam removal studies on track, Secretary of Interior to use them to determine feasibility of Klamath River agreement, and Agreements polarize crowd, H&N 3/18/11 

TriMet loses free speech case over bus, train ads -- again, Oregonian, posted to KBC 3/21/11. "But when TriMet rejected an ad proposed by Friends of the River and the Karuk Tribe of California, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon sued on the tribe's behalf."
The KBRA Draft Drought Plan, completed February 28, 2011, has just been released to the public, 2 days before the Dept. of the Interior public input meeting in Klamath Falls March 16, 6 pm OIT.
Drought Plan > http://67.199.95.80/Klamath/DraftDroughtPlan2011-02-28.pdf
Klamath draft drought plan released, Siskiyou Daily News 3/14/11.
Groups divided over benefits of agreements, H&N 3/6/11 Congressman McClintock speaks on Klamath, delta issues to House, Siskiyou Daily, posted to KBC 3/3/11

California judge approves Klamath dam removal surcharge, Siskiyou Daily, posted to KBC 2/25/11. "The ruling, issued by Judge Karen V. Clopton, approves PacifiCorp’s request to add a $13.76 million surcharge for its approximately 45,000 California customers to cover its obligation for dam removal costs under the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement."

PacifiCorp continues with dam removal preparations, Capital Press 3/4/11

House approves amendment blocking funding for Klamath dam removal study.  KDRV Staff 2/22/11

Group says their water rights will be negotiated away under current plan. Capitol Press 2/18/11

Court reinstates irrigators' lawsuit. Herald and News, 2/18/11
Letter to Secretary John Laird asks where state Klamath funds will originate, Siskiyou Daily 2/18/11 Movement starts to halt Klamath study funding, Siskiyou Daily 2/17/11
Irrigation districts required to file petition, H&N 2/10/11 Group fighting KBRA validation in court, H&N 2/10/11

Protests on the Klamath; mass opposition in Klamath
and Siskiyou Counties, to the controversial KBRA.
In November 2010, 77% Tulelake, 80% Siskiyou County, and
49% Klamath County opposed the KBRA / dam removal agreements


Klamath Falls
Yreka rally opposing controversial KBRA / Klamath Dam Removal, 2/8/11. "
"The rally was held to show (John Bezdec)Department of Interior  officials that while all County residents are affected by the decision virtually none have had a voice in crafting the agreement." (More than 80 came)

Klamath Falls
February 8, 2011

In Klamath Falls, nearly 100 citizens from Klamath, Modoc and Siskiyou Counties gathered to protest the KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement. "This new group was formed out of frustration with various irrigation districts and parts of our local government. "


Klamath Falls
Their individual views and opinions have been ignored by those that are supposed to represent them. These citizens are voicing their opposition to the KBRA and KHSA  by filing a Response to the Klamath Irrigation District Petition, in Klamath County Circuit Court."

 

 

Senator Wyden has town hall meeting (in Klamath Falls), H&N, posted to KBC 1/23/11.  "Tom Mallams, president of the Klamath Off-Project Water Users Association, asked Wyden if it is right to move forward on the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement while roughly half of the Klamath Basin population opposes it."

KBRA OPPOSITION RALLY AT THE GOVERNMENT CENTER – TUESDAY, February 8th at NOON. OPPOSITION to Validation of KBRA and KHSA

No board decision yet on Siskiyou water users’ $40,000 request, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 1/23/11

Expert panel assesses Klamath dam removal impacts on salmon, steelhead, Siskiyou Daily 1/14/11

PacifiCorp initiates KHSA dispute resolution, Siskiyou Daily 1/13/11. “The flow reduction recommended by Reclamation, NMFS and a technical workgroup was developed without the involvement of or participation by PacifiCorp,” the notice reads. “Implementation of reduced flows as directed by Reclamation will materially impact PacifiCorp’s generation at the Project in a manner that conflicts with the KHSA.”
PacifiCorp warns dam removal could be delayed, Bloomberg, posted to KBC 1/13/11 Siskiyou County swims upstream on dam removal; opposes demolition, by Dylan Darling,  Record Searchlight, posted to KBC 1/9/11
Costly Unfulfilled Government Promises, Senator Doug Whitsett, posted to KBC 1/8/11. "Sixteen years of green energy promotion has netted less than two percent green jobs, has drained billions of dollars and innumerable family wage jobs out of our private sector economy, has insured exponentially higher utility rates into the future, and has created the pathway for the destruction of the hydropower infrastructure that is the economic engine of the Northwest." "The direct result is the current effort to destroy the PacifiCorp hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River as well as the impending assault on the Lower Snake River Dams. The Bonneville Power Administration is currently charging its utility ratepayers more than $975 million each year for salmon mitigation. The total amount of environmental charges on your BPA utility bill exceeds 40%."

Dam Removal, Channel 5 News, Video, including audio by Calif. Congressman Tom McClintock, posted to KBC 1/8/10. Congressmen McClintock and Hastings are against dam removal, and Siskiyou County voted against it 4-1.

Interior visit expected on Klamath issues, by David Smith, Siskiyou Daily News, posted to KBC 1/8/11
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