BOR Seeks public input on proposed Klamath Project interim operations

File photo (Image: Brian Gailey)

UPDATE 2, April 7, 2020: Submissions extended until April 11, 2020.

UPDATE 1, April 4, 2020: to correct submission email address.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The Bureau of Reclamation invites public comment on a draft environmental assessment that evaluates a proposed water management approach for the Klamath Project. The Project provides irrigation for approximately 230,000 acres of farmed lands in the Klamath Basin.

“The proposed Interim Operations Plan strives to balance the water needs in the Klamath Basin by delivering as much water as possible to the Klamath Project, while also meeting the needs of fish and wildlife in an environmentally sound manner,” said Reclamation’s Area Manager Jeff Nettleton. “The proposed plan provides increased flows at certain times in the Klamath River for Endangered Species Act-listed coho, as well as Chinook salmon, and also maintains Upper Klamath Lake elevations at times that are important for endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers”

The proposed Interim Operations Plan would be in place while Reclamation, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conduct a longer-term environmental consultation for a new water management plan. The longer-term consultation process is expected to culminate in coordinated biological opinions from NOAA and USFWS by the fall of 2022 with transition to the new water management plan anticipated in spring of 2023.

The draft EA is available at https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_project_details.php?Project_ID=37522.

Comments must be received by 4:30 p.m. PDT April 11, 2020, and may be sent via email to klamathbasin@usbr.gov, or by hard copy to Tara Jane Campbell Miranda, Bureau of Reclamation, 6600 Washburn Way, Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603.

Source: Bureau of Reclamation