Final Klamath Basin agreement released

The final version of a massive agreement to share water and other resources in the fractious Klamath Basin was released January 8, 2009.

Snow geese in flight in the Klamath Basin

The final version of a massive agreement to share water and other resources in the fractious Klamath Basin was released this morning.

The roughly 300-page Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement doesn't differ substantially in many ways from a draft agreement released to much fanfare two years ago, according to those involved.

But it does reflect the work of negotiators representing environmental groups, farmers, local governments, state and federal agencies to refine the document so it could garner wider approval and survive any legal challenges.

At its heart, the deal would provide water to farms and ranches in and near a 200,000-acre federal irrigation project that straddles to the Oregon and Californian border while ensuring flows for protected fish.

“We are proposing a plan that will balance water use in the basin such that all of the Klamath’s diverse rural communities can prosper. This means restoring fisheries in a manner that allows stability for agricultural economies,” said Greg Addington of the Klamath Water Users Association, which represents farmers on the Klamath Reclamation Project.

The deal also includes an agreement to remove four private power-producing dams on the Klamath River to help recover runs of salmon there, and it reflects the Obama administration's entrance into the long-running talks.

Critics of the deal say it doesn't do enough to protect federal bird refuges on the basin, large parts of which are still leased for farming, and it doesn't guarantee enough water will be left in the river during drought years to protect fish.

The negotiators will now take the document back to their constituents and ask them to sign off on it.

But before any of the plan can go forward, Congress has to agree to spend roughly half a billion dollars to fund the various aspects of the deal.

“In many ways, completing the negotiation marks a beginning, not an end," said Petey Brucker, of the Salmon River Restoration Council. "We still have to pass legislation and complete environmental reviews before dam removal and other elements of the agreements can be implemented. Still, we are closer than we have ever been to solving the Klamath crisis."