Pump storage best way to solve water shortage

Herald and News Letter to the Editor June 13, 2009 by Cloyce Barnes, Chiloquin

It’s amazing to me that with all the time, effort and money being spent on the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, all they have basically accomplished is to take water from one party and give it to another.

It seems to me all their efforts should have been directed to solving the water shortage problem by obtaining more water storage. This could likely be accomplished by pumping water up into Long Lake and Aspen Lake during the winter and dropping it back into Upper Klamath Lake during the summer months.

That would likely solve the water shortage, which is the basic problem, but would provide more recreational facilities and fish and wildlife habitat. I’ll bet the taxpayers would rather spend millions on additional water storage than on dam removal and land purchased.

I know there is a feasibility study being conducted at this time.

Cloyce Barnes, Chiloquin