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<P align=left><FONT size=2><B><SPAN class=cHeadline1><FONT face=Verdana
color=#ff0000>Drought spurs water fight in the Klamath
Basin<BR></FONT></SPAN></B><FONT face=Verdana>(NPR, 05/08) <B>Audio.
</B>"</FONT></FONT><A
href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634915"><FONT
face=Verdana size=2>The battle over water continues in the Klamath River Basin
on the Oregon-California border. Another year of drought has been declared,
which may spell more trouble for the region.</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana
size=2>"<BR></FONT></P></LI></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634915">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634915</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Also,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Drought? Lake's nearly full and rising</STRONG>
<P> Published Friday MAy 6, 2005
<P> By TODD KEPPLE <BR>Klamath Falls Herald and News
<P> The Klamath Basin may be in the grips of drought, but the timing of
the recent rainy spell means the <BR> Bureau of Reclamation will have to
spill water from Upper Klamath Lake in case the wet trend <BR> continues.
<P> Bureau officials worked to conserve water for months during the recent
mild winter, and had managed <BR> to nearly fill Upper Klamath Lake when
the weather turned decidedly wet last week.
<P> Now there's no room to store the extra water coming in, said Cecil
Lesley, chief of water operations for <BR> the Klamath Reclamation
Project.
<P> Flows at Link River Dam were increased this week to 3,500 cubic feet
per second, or more than five <BR> times the amount of water that was
being released last week.
<P> PacifiCorp, which operates the Link River Dam under a contract with
the Bureau of Reclamation, <BR> issued an advisory Thursday that localized
flooding around Upper Klamath Lake is possible if heavy <BR> rains occur
during the next few weeks while the lake is brimful.
<P> People who have property alongside the lake may want to take
precautionary measures, the company <BR> said, particularly since the
weather forecast calls for more rain over the coming weekend.
<P> "PacifiCorp has been in consultation with the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation about lake levels and <BR> expected inflows," the company said
in a statement Thursday. "The (Bureau of Reclamation) has taken <BR> this
information into consideration and directed (us) to increase flows at Link River
Dam."
<P> Releasing more water from Link River Dam will create space in Upper
Klamath Lake to hold heavy <BR> inflow that might result from rainstorms.
<P> Upper Klamath Lake is considered to be full when the water level
reaches 4,143.3 feet above sea level. <BR> By early this week, the lake
was within an inch of its maximum level.
<P> In some places, that leaves only a few inches of dike to keep water
from spilling onto low-lying property <BR> beside the lake.
<P> Officials are concerned about the possibility of strong winds
affecting the lake level. A strong, sustained <BR> wind can push water
from one side of the lake toward the other, cause the surface elevation to vary
by <BR> several inches.
<P> The prospect of the lake overtopping its banks comes less than two
months after Gov. Ted Kulongoski <BR> declared a drought emergency in
Klamath County.
<P> Kulongoski's drought declaration came in mid-March, when the Klamath
Basin was suffering a <BR> stubborn drought that left a mountain snowpack
measuring about half of average.
<P> The Bureau of Reclamation, hoping to conserve as much water as
possible for the benefit of irrigators <BR> and fish, took measures during
the winter and early spring to curtail flows in the Klamath River and <BR>
hold water back in Upper Klamath Lake.
<P> By late April, it appeared the lake would come close to filling.
That's when the rains started coming, <BR> swelling streams and rivers
feeding into Upper Klamath Lake.
<P> The Williamson River, for instance, was flowing at 1,310 cubic feet
per second Thursday at a stream <BR> gauging station near Chiloquin.
That's still below average for this time of year, but much higher than
<BR> the 865 cfs flowing in the river only two weeks ago.
<P> As a result, the remaining space in the lake filled quickly, and left
no room to spare for any sudden <BR> inflows that might result from new
storms.
<P> Releasing more water from Upper Klamath Lake will boost flows in the
Klamath River, where fishery <BR> interests have been concerned about low
flows affecting runs of salmon, including the threatened coho.
<P> The rains come as welcome relief for irrigators, Lesley said. But
while the rains have been enough to <BR> top off the lake, they haven't
been enough to wipe out the effects of several dry months over the winter.
<P> "The wet weather has slowed down the use of irrigation water, and we
don't expect extensive irrigation <BR> in the Project for probably another
two weeks, which is well into our regular irrigation season," Lesley <BR>
said.
<P> "However, we just received the first of May (streamflow) forecast, and
it still calls for dry conditions, as <BR> far as inflow to the lake is
concerned."
<P> Lesley said the rains have also brought very little relief to the
Project's east side, where irrigators rely <BR> on Clear Lake and Gerber
Reservoir.
<P> "Both of them have received minor amounts of water," Lesley said.
"Clear Lake is still extremely dry, <BR> and we've seen some increases in
Gerber, but it still won't be a full supply."
<P> Falls revealed: Here's how to see them
<P> The falls for which Klamath Falls is named largely disappeared 85
years ago when the <BR> California-Oregon Power Co. built a dam on Link
River, the outlet of Upper Klamath Lake.
<P> Remnants of the falls can still be seen, however, particularly in
relatively wet years when Upper <BR> Klamath Lake fills and extra water is
released from the dam, as is the case this week.
<P> To see the falls, take the Link River Trail from its southern
trailhead, near the Favell Museum. Hike <BR> slightly more than a
half-mile up the trail, to the point where the north half of the trail is closed
due to <BR> construction work.
<P> Several unmarked paths lead down to the river's edge. Thick brush and
blackberry brambles can make <BR> the going difficult. The north half of
the trail is closed to keep the public away from the construction <BR>
zone where a new fish ladder was recently installed.
<P> - By Todd Kepple <BR></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>