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SUNNY Temp: 58 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, August 14, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend July 9, 2003 Water will continue flowing into Rogue Basin for irrigation By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Two environmental groups have dropped a threatened lawsuit over water diverted from the upper Klamath Basin into the Rogue Basin upon reaching a settlement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The agreement announced Tuesday means the 30,000 acre-feet of water diverted to Rogue Basin farmers, orchardists and irrigators will continue flowing west, at least for this water year. The Oregon Natural Resources Council and the Northcoast Environmental Center in Arcata, Calif., earlier this year had filed a notice of intent to sue the bureau over its failure to complete required Endangered Species Act consultation with biological experts from other agencies. At issue is the diversion’s impact on endangered suckers and threatened coho salmon in the Klamath Basin. Advertisement Under the agreement, the bureau will submit a completed biological assessment by the end of August to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Fish and Wildlife Service will then complete any required biological opinion on environmental issues raised by April 1, 2004. As a result of the agreement, there should be no disruption of irrigation deliveries this year, said Wendell Wood, Southern Oregon field representative for the ONRC, during a news conference in Medford. "We are pleased the bureau has agreed to include these agencies and hope they will have a decision within the public interest in a way we can accommodate reasonable irrigation deliveries but not needlessly harm threatened and endangered fisheries," he said. "We’re happy to have an amicable solution." The Rogue Basin project, authorized by Congress in 1954, is part of the bureau’s backlog of projects that need updating to meet Endangered Species Act requirements, said Diana Cross, spokeswoman for the bureau’s regional office in Boise. "The Rogue Basin project is very complex with a mixture of private and public facilities," she said. "It’s a transbasin diversion that takes water from both sides of the mountains." The bureau has promised to complete its portion of the agreement by Aug. 31, she acknowledged. The agreement is preferable to a lawsuit, observed Ron Meyer, president of the Talent Irrigation District board and a third-generation pear grower. "But we don't know what will come of this," he cautioned. "We do know if we lost this water, it would have a very serious impact." The diverted water is vital to the agricultural community in the Bear Creek and upper Rogue River watershed, he said. Many local wells likely would be impacted if the diverted water dried up, he added. The irrigation-dependent Rogue Valley pear industry, which has been tapping into the Klamath Basin water via gravity-fed canals for more than half a century, is valued at about $14 million and covers about 8,000 acres. An average 24,000 acre-feet is stored each winter in the Howard Prairie and Hyatt reservoirs from Jenny Creek on the east side of the Cascade Range. However, more than half of that stored behind Howard Prairie dam comes from the Rogue drainage. Another 6,000 acre-feet from the Fourmile reservoir drainage in the Klamath Basin is diverted into Fish Lake each winter, then flows into the north fork of Little Butte Creek. The Talent Irrigation District receives the lion’s share of the diverted water while the rest goes to the Medford and Rogue River Valley irrigation districts. "This agreement is good news," Meyer said. "With a lawsuit, there is always the threat of an injunction. Now we will have some scientific data on this." Ron Roth, an Ashland farmer who has a water right to draw water from Bear Creek, said the agreement is a step forward in the battle for water. But Roth, who appeared at the news conference with Wood, expressed concern that the diverted water was not being totally utilized when it is released during the winter for power generation in the Green Springs Power Plant. Releasing it for power generation in the summer would also make it available for irrigation or just increase the natural flow, he said. For more information on the agreement check out: http://www.onrc.org/programs/klamath.html#diversions Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times