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More water storage would help Basin
published August 10, 2003
Adding more storage capacity for water in the water-short Klamath Basin might not be a no-brainer, but it's close. It's certainly worth exploring.
A group of farmers and others is proposing to turn Long Lake into a storage reservoir and perhaps include the ability to generate power. Klamath County commissioners have agreed to support the plan, as have two landowners in the area, Jeld-Wen and U.S. Timberlands. That's a good start.
Long Lake, which is dry, is separated from Upper Klamath Lake by a ridge, and is west of Highway 140 at the south end of Upper Klamath. It's estimated it could hold 350,000 to 500,000 acre-feet of water in a 200-foot deep reservoir. The proposal calls for pumping water from Upper Klamath Lake into Long Lake to make room in Upper Klamath for more runoff. Water, when released, could also be used to generate power through turbines, to help offset the cost.
Such proposals have been made before.
Years ago, the Aspen Lake basin, another dry lake in the same area, was the subject of a similiar plan, but that was abandoned when it was discovered that the lake's bottom was too fractured to hold water.
Another party that should be interested in the plan is PP&L, which holds the licenses for dams on the Klamath River. Depending on how streamflows are managed, additional upstream storage should result in more revenue for the company, or its successor in managing the Klamath River dams. Licenses on the dams are up for renewal and there's no guarantee that PP&l will retain them.
The storage project could also make cold water available to flow downstream at key times for downriver fish. While there's substantial disagreement about whether sending more of Upper Klamath's "hot" water downstream last year would have helped salmon in the lower river, there is very little disagreement that cold water would have. A deep reservoir could provide that.
Balanced against all of these considerations, are the costs, the feasibility and environmental objections that may arise. These will all have to be dealt with. But for now, it looks like a good idea.
The "H&N view" represents the opinion of the newspaper's editorial board, which consists of Publisher John Walker, Editor Tim Fought, City Editor Todd Kepple and Opinion Editor Pat Bushey. Most of the editorials are written by Bushey.
Adding more storage capacity for water in the water-short Klamath Basin might not be a no-brainer, but it's close. It's certainly worth exploring.
A group of farmers and others is proposing to turn Long Lake into a storage reservoir and perhaps include the ability to generate power. Klamath County commissioners have agreed to support the plan, as have two landowners in the area, Jeld-Wen and U.S. Timberlands. That's a good start.
Long Lake, which is dry, is separated from Upper Klamath Lake by a ridge, and is west of Highway 140 at the south end of Upper Klamath. It's estimated it could hold 350,000 to 500,000 acre-feet of water in a 200-foot deep reservoir. The proposal calls for pumping water from Upper Klamath Lake into Long Lake to make room in Upper Klamath for more runoff. Water, when released, could also be used to generate power through turbines, to help offset the cost.
Such proposals have been made before.
Years ago, the Aspen Lake basin, another dry lake in the same area, was the subject of a similiar plan, but that was abandoned when it was discovered that the lake's bottom was too fractured to hold water.
Another party that should be interested in the plan is PP&L, which holds the licenses for dams on the Klamath River. Depending on how streamflows are managed, additional upstream storage should result in more revenue for the company, or its successor in managing the Klamath River dams. Licenses on the dams are up for renewal and there's no guarantee that PP&l will retain them.
The storage project could also make cold water available to flow downstream at key times for downriver fish. While there's substantial disagreement about whether sending more of Upper Klamath's "hot" water downstream last year would have helped salmon in the lower river, there is very little disagreement that cold water would have. A deep reservoir could provide that.
Balanced against all of these considerations, are the costs, the feasibility and environmental objections that may arise. These will all have to be dealt with. But for now, it looks like a good idea.
The "H&N view" represents the opinion of the newspaper's editorial board, which consists of Publisher John Walker, Editor Tim Fought, City Editor Todd Kepple and Opinion Editor Pat Bushey. Most of the editorials are written by Bushey.
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