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<DIV>Colleagues...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mr. Bergren is, of course, correct. The very best way to avoid
massive bird deaths in the future is to provide a guaranteed minimum water
supply, <EM>which those two refuges do not now have.</EM> At present they
are the most junior water right holder, which makes that right more or
less meaningless since they are at the tail end of a long legal and physical
pipeline, and are frequently shorted of water or dried out all together, causing
massive bird losses by loss of wetlands habitat and overcrowding.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Among many other environmental benefits, the Klamath Settlement Agreement's
Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) would benefit these two National
Wildlife Refuges by moving the refuges from what is currently the most junior
water right to <U>the same senior legal position as the Klamath Irrigation
Project itself</U>, finally make "wildlife and refuge" needs a co-equal legal
purpose for which the Klamath Irrigation Project must be managed (now it is
only for irrigation), <EM>and guarantee</EM> at least 48,000 acre-feet of water
for the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges even in very dry
years, moving up to at least 60,000 acre-feet as rainfall increases (see KBRA
Sec. 15.1.2). This is a lot more than the refuges frequently got in past
years, or can expect in many future years under the current <EM>status
quo</EM>.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There are also several other major environmental benefits to the Refuges
from the KBRA of a more indirect nature, but nonetheless of great benefit
to its wildlife.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>But don't take my word for it.....</STRONG> Attached is a 2010 Memo
from Refuge Manger Ron Cole summarizing the many benefits to the Tule Lake and
Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges from the KBRA. These
are benefits negotiated by USFWS refuge managers themselves, and why they
strongly support the Klamath Settlement Agreement as a whole as good for those
national wildlife refuges and their wildlife.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10">======================================<BR>Glen H. Spain, Northwest
Regional Director<BR>Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
(PCFFA)<BR>PO Box 11170, Eugene, OR 97440-3370<BR>Office: (541)689-2000 Fax:
(541)689-2500<BR>Web Home Page: <A
href="http://www.pcffa.org/">www.pcffa.org</A><BR>Email:
fish1ifr@aol.com</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>==========================================================</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 4/12/2012 12:18:24 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
tstokely@att.net writes:</DIV>
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<DIV class="cpf-deletable cpf-printOut-header-title"><FONT
class=Apple-style-span size=5><B><A
title=http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_20379287/restoration-pact-offers-klamath-basin-hope
href="http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_20379287/restoration-pact-offers-klamath-basin-hope">http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_20379287/restoration-pact-offers-klamath-basin-hope</A> </B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold"
class="cpf-deletable cpf-printOut-header-title"> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold"
class="cpf-deletable cpf-printOut-header-title">Restoration pact offers
Klamath Basin hope</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-SIZE: 12px"
class="cpf-deletable cpf-printOut-header-byline">Erik Bergren/For the
Times-Standard Eureka Times Standard</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-SIZE: 12px"
class="cpf-deletable cpf-printOut-header-dateline">Posted:</DIV></TD>
<TD vAlign=bottom align=right>
<DIV class="cpf-deletable cpf-printOut-header-domain"><A
title=http://times-standard.com/
href="http://times-standard.com/">Times-Standard.com</A></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
<DIV id=cpf-printOut-body><SPAN class=cpf-printOut-body-content>Over 10,000
waterfowl have died in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife
Refuges in the last couple of weeks due to an avian cholera outbreak
exacerbated by low water conditions. This is one of the largest
drought-related die-offs the refuges have seen in their 100-year
history.</SPAN>
<P class=cpf-printOut-body-content>During years of low precipitation, water
allocations in the Klamath Basin are stretched. The refuges are dependent on
water deliveries from the Bureau of Reclamation's Klamath Project and it can
be difficult to balance water needs among fisheries, wildlife refuges, tribes
and irrigators.</P>
<P class=cpf-printOut-body-content>While not a perfect solution,
implementation of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement would help Klamath
basin wildlife refuges by allowing refuge managers flexibility in allocating a
set amount of water to support spring and fall waterfowl migrations. Refuges
would be on equal footing with irrigation deliveries for the first time.</P>
<P
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(242,255,225); CURSOR: url(http://cache-02.cleanprint.net/media/pfviewer/images/close.cur), auto; border-top-left-radius: 10px 10px; border-top-right-radius: 10px 10px; border-bottom-right-radius: 10px 10px; border-bottom-left-radius: 10px 10px; box-shadow: rgb(150, 150, 150) 5px 5px 5px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(150, 150, 150) 5px 5px 5px"
class="cpf-printOut-body-content cpf-viewbox-edit-highlight">The agreement
represents local, community derived solutions to the Klamath Basin's water
needs. If the agreement had been implemented, the magnitude of disease
outbreak on the refuges would have been lessened because more flooded habitat
would have been present. Currently, it is the only viable option to ensuring
more reliable water deliveries to the refuge over the long term.</P>
<P class=cpf-printOut-body-content>With the struggle to balance water between
farms and fish, the refuges are often overlooked. Of all the wetlands within
the Pacific Flyway, no area provides more important staging habitats, both in
the fall and spring, for migratory waterfowl than the marshes and lakes of the
Klamath Basin. This spring, the refuge has been one of the driest on record.
According to refuge managers, only 50 percent of the wetlands on the refuge
contain water. That is 15,000 acres of wetlands flooded out of about 31,000
acres on the Lower Klamath refuge.</P>
<P class=cpf-printOut-body-content>Legislation authorizing the Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement is now before Congress and is an example of a locally
developed plan that would solve many of the water-balancing issues that these
communities face after dry winters like the one we just experienced. It is
time for Congress to act.</P>
<P class=cpf-printOut-body-content>Erik Bergren is a communications
administrator with California Waterfowl. Find more information online at <A
title=http://www.calwaterfowl.org/
href="http://www.calwaterfowl.org/">www.calwaterfowl.org</A>.</P></DIV></SPAN></DIV>=</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
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