Klamath draft drought plan released
David Smith
Siskiyou Daily News
03/14/2011
Klamath River — With funding for one Klamath agreement in question, parties are still moving forward with activities under another.
The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), a multi-party agreement committing nearly a billion dollars to fisheries, river and agricultural interests, requires the adoption of a drought plan for the Klamath basin, and Friday the draft plan was sent to outlets by consultant Ed Sheets.
According to the draft, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit created by Congress in 1984, will adminster a fund set up for drought response. To extract money from the fund, parties to the agreement must submit expenditure plans to the NFWF to cover activities in response to drought or extreme drought conditions as specified by the declaration entity, the Oregon Department of Water Resources.
Part of that response is described in the draft plan as the reduction of diversions of surface water. “The Restoration Agreement contemplates that Fund resources may be used to reduce diversion or use of surface water for consumptive purposes and maintain the water for Instream Use. ... Resources in the Fund should be made available to compensate Parties, parties in the Klamath Reclamation Project, or Participants who suffer injury as a consequence of performance of Extreme Drought measures under the Restoration Agreement and this Drought Plan.
“To this end, to the maximum extent feasible and consistent with this Drought Plan, sufficient sums should be maintained in the Fund on an ongoing basis to address such injury.”
