Transcript PowerPoint - Klamath Basin Crisis

Klamath Settlement
Agreement
A Mid-Klamath Perspective
Marcia H. Armstrong
Supervisor District 5
Siskiyou County
http://users.sisqtel.net/armstrng/
Mid- Klamath Region
Mid-River Stakeholders
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Whitewater Rafters (Mt. Shasta, etc.)
Copco/ Iron Gate Lake residents
Retirement Community KRCE (East of I-5)
Resort Owners and Fishing Guides (East of I-5)
Shasta Indians
City of Yreka
River Communities (Klamath, Horse Creek, Hamburg,
Seiad, Happy Camp, Somes)
Shasta Valley Communities
Scott Valley Communities
Karuk Tribe
Whitewater Rafting
Potential loss of wild
and scenic values.
(Listed as a Scenic
River from Copco into
Oregon in 1994.).
River flows in the 17 mile
stretch of Klamath River
between J.C. Boyle and Copco
Lake are managed to produce
unique Class IV-V whitewater
rafting opportunities year
round. Many commercial
outfitters in Mt. Shasta and
businesses, such as the Copco
store, will be affected by the
loss of this recreational
opportunity.
Copco and Iron Gate Reservoir Communities
The Copco and Iron Gate Lake residents enjoy lake-front
property, as well as a tournament class fishery. Under the
agreement, the reservoirs will be drained. Their lifestyle and
property will be impacted, (as many as 1,000+ parcels.)
Catfish
Bass
California Designated
Wild Trout fishery
Golden Perch
It is estimated that 20 million
cubic yards of sediment
would be released downriver
from behind the dams. It is
not known how this will
impact the elevation of the
riverbed, the flood plain and
hydro-geomorphology of the
channel.
Klamath River Country Estates Subdivision
The KRCE
subdivision lies below
Iron Gate Dam (East
of I-5) and comprises
more than 1570 lots.
Many of the residents
are retirees. It is
unknown how
changes in the river
will impact their
property or safety.
Resorts Just Below the dams
Under the Settlement Agreement the Klamath Tribes will have
fishing rights below the dams. It is not known how this will affect
non-tribal fishing opportunities.
R-Ranch
Blue Heron
Fish hook
Fishing Guides
Shasta Tribal Territory
Shasta Indian Territory
encompasses most of the midKlamath. Dam removal will
expose many of their historic
villages and burial grounds.
Under the settlement
agreement, the Klamath Tribe
would be granted salmon
fishing rights in their territory
below the dam to I-5.
City of Yreka Water Supply
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The City of Yreka gets its
water from Fall Creek – about
23 miles north of the city.
They have a 15 CFS
permitted water right from the
state of CA. The water is
conducted through a 24 inch
pipeline that passes
underneath the reservoir. It is
expected that the pipe will
have to be relocated when
the reservoirs are drained.
According to calculations by Jerry Bacigalupi P.E. (RCE
18063,) during floods, the reservoirs create the effect of a 22%
reduction in peak flows and a peak delay of nine hours.
(Experience has shown that this is sufficient time to
preposition needed oxygen, RX , other supplies and
generators in river communities.)
It should be noted that during the 1964 flood, many bridges
on the Klamath River were destroyed. All roadways and
bridges were relocated above the Base Flow Elevation
assuming current dams were in place. It is not known how
BSE will be affected by dam removal.
River Communities
West of I-5, the Klamath passes by the communities of
Klamath River, Horse Creek, Hamburg, Seiad, Happy
Camp and Somes Bar. The region is frequently defined
by canyon walls with little flood plain area. Changes in
river bed elevation and channel could have a
significant impact on base flow elevation and flooding
of local communities. This area is prone to flooding and
towns become isolated when water crests over Hwy.
96, which runs next to the Klamath River.
Bridge at Horse Creek
05-06
Bridge at Seiad 05-06
Happy Camp 1964
Happy Camp 05-06
Shasta Valley Farmers and Ranchers
Loss of a potential 60,000 acre feet reserved water right to
be stored in Iron Gate Reservoir on the Klamath River -for
possible use in the Shasta Valley for irrigation.
Potential demand on Shasta River water to make up loss in
Klamath River flows accruing from the agreement
Increase in power rates to fund dam removal/ retrofit for
salmon, replace lost renewable energy, mitigate for water
quality.
- (Klamath Project farm competitors avoid rate impacts
with Bonneville power. Many lower Klamath River
customers do not have rate impacts as they do not
have Pacific Power as their electrical utility.)
795 sq. mile basin - 508,734 acres
72% private land – 364,729 acres
50-55,000 irrigated acres
Scott Valley Farmers and Ranchers
Potential demand on Scott River water to make up loss in
Klamath River flows accruing from the agreement
Increase in power rates to replace lost renewable energy, dam
removal/ retrofit for salmon, mitigations for water quality.
- (Klamath Project farm competitors avoid rate impacts
with Bonneville power. Many lower Klamath River
customers do not have rate impacts as they do not have
Pacific Power as their electrical utility.)
814 sq. mile basin - 520,968 acres
61% private land –316,471 acres
32,443 Irrigated acres
With the exception of the Karuk Tribe and the
Salmon River Restoration Council, none of the midKlamath stakeholders were allowed to have a seat at
the table in the closed negotiations that negatively
affected their safety, livelihood, property, lifestyles
and interests. (As a precondition, participants other
than PacifiCorp and Siskiyou County had to agree to
support dam removal.) The process failed to respect
their cultural values and interests as stakeholders
with equal standing to others in the Klamath River
Basin.
Siskiyou County
comprises a large portion
of the Klamath River
Basin and contains the
mid-Klamath region.
The CDM report estimates from
$465 -$900+ million for removal of
the 4 dams. The $180 million set
aside from Oregon ratepayers, $20
million from California ratepayers
and the expected $250 million from
California taxpayers in the delayed
water bond ($450 million total) is
insufficient to pay for removal
costs.
CDM Report
The alternative cost of installing
fishways and other mitigations
identified by FERC have been
estimated by the CEC at from $223$415 million; estimated by
PacifiCorp at from $300-$350
million .
Fiscal Impacts to Siskiyou County
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$11,250,000 in diminution of local property value
$3,744,000 in loss of recreational opportunities
$341,000 in loss of flat-water recreation
$4,067,000 in loss of local payrolls
$7,500,000 in diminution in property value for PacifiCorp
Copco I
$12 million in diminution of property value for land owned
by PacifiCorp (J.C. Boyle, Copco II and Iron Gate dams
$1.6 million for loss of property tax revenue annually
$171,911,000 for loss and cost of replacement of
renewable power
Total $212,413,000
(CDM Table 3-17)
Unfunded Mitigations
 An estimated $53+ million for stabilization,
re-vegetation and restoration of the drained
reservoirs
 Treatment of yellow star thistle and other
noxious weeds
 Re-construct County roads (such as Copco)
hammered by trucks carrying debris 24/7
trucks for 18 months (cost up to $1 million a
mile.)
 Dump site for materials
 Mitigate possible impacts of changed Base
Flow Elevation and peak flows on 11
County bridges and 14 low - lying County
roads.
Salmon Impacts
Loss of spawning areas from sediment
$45,000 (CDM report Table ES-1)
 Loss of regional fisheries from sediment
$66,406,000 (CDM report Table ES-1)
 Dam removal could warm spring river
temperatures, harming juvenile fish (Bartholow)
and increasing incidence of disease (Nichols/True)
 Reservoirs currently act as a nutrient sink for
high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen
sediments mobilized by activity in the Upper
Klamath Basin
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On March 9, 2009, the President of the United States issued a
memorandum on scientific integrity which states that: “[t]he public
must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing
policy decisions.”
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Cal Trout uses Stanford mathematician to assess financial impact to
reservoir property. He utilizes Prop. 13 base years trended instead
of contemporary market value, thus understating impact.
2004 American Rivers/ Stillwater Sciences produces sediment
transport study that utilizes an experimental model that utilizes the
wrong sized sediment
NCRWQCB allegedly physically alters PacifiCorp model to move
location of water quality impacts
Inquiries discover that a CDC report on the lack of long term health
impacts of algae exposure is being quashed
Sediment sample findings of dioxin at toxicity levels of concern are
not carried forward (Shannon and Wilson 2006)
DOI holds back release of CDM report
2010 Cal Trout/ Dr. Gallo report erroneously attributes $20 million
mitigation payment to Siskiyou County
The Klamath
Settlement Agreements
benefit Upper Klamath
and Lower Klamath
stakeholders at the
expense of midKlamath communities.