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Water bank gets ready for new deposits
Bureau asks water users to contribute
By DYLAN DARLING
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation wants Klamath Basin water users to make deposits into its water bank.
The Bureau needs 50,000 acre-feet of water, and is willing to spend $4 million to get it, said Dave Sabo, manager of the agency's Klamath Basin area office.
The Bureau will hold a public meeting Monday at Exhibition Hall A of the Klamath County Fairgrounds at 10 a.m. to tell water users how they can apply to the 2003 Pilot Water Bank Program.
Applicants will have less than a week to submit paperwork, which will be due at the end of business next Friday at the bureau area office at 6600 Washburn Way. The office closes at 4:30 p.m.
"We are really under the gun to get this accomplished now," Sabo said.
Last week, Congress approved an appropriations bill for most government agencies for the current fiscal year, which actually began on Oct. 1.
The effect of the congressional approval is to assure agencies, such as the Bureau of Reclamation, that they will have money for initiatives, such as the $4 million needed for the water bank.
Sabo said the bank is designed to get the needed water by having water users idle some of their cropland and by having them use groundwater instead of project water to irrigate crops or water cattle. In both cases the government will pay the water users.
"We are all going to be a part of this," Sabo said.
By cutting the amount of project water used by irrigators by 50,000 acre-feet, the bureau will have a supply of water held in reserve, to use to meet minimum lake level and flow requirements set by the 2002 biological opinion of NOAA Fisheries, formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sabo said.
The opinion called for 33,000 acre-feet to be in the water bank last year, 50,000 acre-feet this year, 75,000 acre-feet next year and 100,000 acre feet the year after that.
Sabo said the annual increases are large, and he doesn't know where the bureau will find the water.
"It's going to be a challenge," he said.
Sabo said the Bureau hopes the requirements can be revised for the coming years.
This year Bureau wants to find 12,000 acres of farmland to idle in the Klamath Reclamation Project, which would translate into about 30,000 acre-feet of water, he said. It also wants 25,000 acre-feet of project water to be replaced by groundwater.
The government will pay water users about $187 per acre to idle land, and will compensate those who use groundwater for the increased cost of pumping water out of the ground instead of taking it from project canals.
Sabo said additional funds should be available from the National Resources Conservation Service for planting cover crops, mostly cereal grains, on idle land. Those funds would be in the neighborhood of $50 per acre. Officials from the NRCS will be at Monday's meeting.
Water users who come to the meeting should bring detailed information about their land.
Dan Keppen, executive director of the Klamath Basin Water Users Association, said the bank offers enough financial incentive to get water users to either idle land or use groundwater.
"Both are designed to compensate landowners for water used for lake level and downstream flows," Keppen said.
By working to create the water bank, he said his organization is trying to make the best of a bad situation.
The Bureau and the water users want to spread out the idle acres.
The Bureau is looking to idle land used for crops such as alfalfa and barley. Sabo said alfalfa usually fetches about $180 an acre, so farmers would be more than compensated for letting their land idle.
He said letting fields lie fallow is a common farm practice in other parts of the country, but has never really caught on in the Klamath Basin.
"What we are trying to do here is have it become more of a standard process," he said.
Sabo said the project will likely have another hard year in 2003 because of the weather conditions.
"The dilemma we heave now is that it is super dry and there is no snow," he said.
This means Upper Klamath Lake is nearly full now, but it won't be for long.
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
By DYLAN DARLING
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation wants Klamath Basin water users to make deposits into its water bank.
The Bureau needs 50,000 acre-feet of water, and is willing to spend $4 million to get it, said Dave Sabo, manager of the agency's Klamath Basin area office.
The Bureau will hold a public meeting Monday at Exhibition Hall A of the Klamath County Fairgrounds at 10 a.m. to tell water users how they can apply to the 2003 Pilot Water Bank Program.
Applicants will have less than a week to submit paperwork, which will be due at the end of business next Friday at the bureau area office at 6600 Washburn Way. The office closes at 4:30 p.m.
"We are really under the gun to get this accomplished now," Sabo said.
Last week, Congress approved an appropriations bill for most government agencies for the current fiscal year, which actually began on Oct. 1.
The effect of the congressional approval is to assure agencies, such as the Bureau of Reclamation, that they will have money for initiatives, such as the $4 million needed for the water bank.
Sabo said the bank is designed to get the needed water by having water users idle some of their cropland and by having them use groundwater instead of project water to irrigate crops or water cattle. In both cases the government will pay the water users.
"We are all going to be a part of this," Sabo said.
By cutting the amount of project water used by irrigators by 50,000 acre-feet, the bureau will have a supply of water held in reserve, to use to meet minimum lake level and flow requirements set by the 2002 biological opinion of NOAA Fisheries, formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sabo said.
The opinion called for 33,000 acre-feet to be in the water bank last year, 50,000 acre-feet this year, 75,000 acre-feet next year and 100,000 acre feet the year after that.
Sabo said the annual increases are large, and he doesn't know where the bureau will find the water.
"It's going to be a challenge," he said.
Sabo said the Bureau hopes the requirements can be revised for the coming years.
This year Bureau wants to find 12,000 acres of farmland to idle in the Klamath Reclamation Project, which would translate into about 30,000 acre-feet of water, he said. It also wants 25,000 acre-feet of project water to be replaced by groundwater.
The government will pay water users about $187 per acre to idle land, and will compensate those who use groundwater for the increased cost of pumping water out of the ground instead of taking it from project canals.
Sabo said additional funds should be available from the National Resources Conservation Service for planting cover crops, mostly cereal grains, on idle land. Those funds would be in the neighborhood of $50 per acre. Officials from the NRCS will be at Monday's meeting.
Water users who come to the meeting should bring detailed information about their land.
Dan Keppen, executive director of the Klamath Basin Water Users Association, said the bank offers enough financial incentive to get water users to either idle land or use groundwater.
"Both are designed to compensate landowners for water used for lake level and downstream flows," Keppen said.
By working to create the water bank, he said his organization is trying to make the best of a bad situation.
The Bureau and the water users want to spread out the idle acres.
The Bureau is looking to idle land used for crops such as alfalfa and barley. Sabo said alfalfa usually fetches about $180 an acre, so farmers would be more than compensated for letting their land idle.
He said letting fields lie fallow is a common farm practice in other parts of the country, but has never really caught on in the Klamath Basin.
"What we are trying to do here is have it become more of a standard process," he said.
Sabo said the project will likely have another hard year in 2003 because of the weather conditions.
"The dilemma we heave now is that it is super dry and there is no snow," he said.
This means Upper Klamath Lake is nearly full now, but it won't be for long.
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
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