Senators introduce Klamath Basin agreement bill

Lawmakers from Oregon and California introduced legislation in the Senate on Wednesday that formalizes the Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement struck last month. Under the deal, users above Upper Klamath Lake agree to reduce their water consumption, allowing an extra 30,000 acre-feet to flow into the lake. In exchange, the Klamath Tribes agree to not pre-emptively exercise their senior water rights above the lake, and local landowners will commit to helping restore plant and fish habitats in riparian areas. Downstream irrigators and ranchers, who have lesser claims to the water, stand to gain more certainty of access to water, particularly in dry years. But critics say the deal hasn’t reduced water demand in the basin enough to solve the problem. They warn that under the legislation, salmon fisheries could face devastating die-offs, as they did in 2003 following reduced river flows caused by drought the previous year. The Klamath Basin is 16,000 square miles that drain into the Klamath River as it flows more than 250 miles from its headwaters in Southern Oregon through Northern California to the Pacific Ocean. In March 2013, after 38 years of litigation, the Oregon Water Resources Department adjudicated the competing claims to the water. Essentially, under the principle of first in time, first in right, the Klamath Tribes were awarded top claim on much of Upper Klamath Lake and portions of its tributaries. But should high-priority rights holders exercise a “call” on their water claim during particularly dry years, ranchers and irrigators worry they wouldn’t have enough water for their livestock and crops. In a prepared statement, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., called on Congress to enact the legislation...more