The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE KLAMATH PROJECT” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2554-H2555 on May 19.
The Department oversees more than 500 million acres of land. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the department has contributed to a growing water crisis and holds many lands which could be better managed.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE KLAMATH PROJECT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I want to speak a little while today on the issue going on with the Klamath Basin, which straddles Northern California and Southern Oregon, and the water supply that has been a long-time issue and dispute up there for many purposes, agriculture, hydroelectric power, and endangered fish species, and how these are going to be shared, adjudicated, et cetera.
Currently, the battle in the basin there is how waters can be delivered to agriculture. Last year, in 2020, the situation was very dire where, initially, 140,000 acre-feet was promised to the growers up there. And then they went ahead and started their planning process. They had their crops in the field based on that number. The Bureau of Reclamation decided they were going to pull that back and not deliver that water.
We were able to work with the Department of the Interior and restore that water so that the crops that are already in the field planted would not die, that massive investment and massive loss to the farmers and to the community would not happen.
This year, we have a similar path. In March, the Bureau estimated they would deliver 130,000 acre-feet of water, 10,000 acre-feet less than last year. This of a water right that belongs in the basin of 390,000 acre-feet when fully delivered.
And that is where we need to really discuss this today, is that we are talking about the elevation of the lake here. We have, at the full mark, 4,143.3 elevation is a maximum lake. The project goes as low as 4,136 right down here. So that represents a heck of a lot of water. The farmer's share of this, the 561 is the 390,000 I had mentioned. Currently, the lake sits at 4,140.4 feet of elevation, so that represents availability of 307,000 acre-feet of water supply.
Now, the species of fish that we are talking about here are the longnose sucker fish that is in the lake. It lives in the lower part, the brown area of the lake there. And that is where it is best-suited. It is a bottom-feeding fish.
So the problem is that the Bureau of Reclamation, taking the cue from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, has decided that the water that belongs to the farmers has been adjudicated over time. The Oregon courts have held that these water rights do belong to agriculture. This is after NEPA and the ESA went into effect in the Endangered Species Act Oregon Water Resources Department began the process of detailing and adjudicating these rights.
So in reviewing the water rights of all the users in the basin, they noted that the Bureau claimed the reserved water rights apply only to the primary purpose of that water right, which is determined by a 1978 case, U.S. vs. New Mexico.
The Ninth Circuit determined in a 1983 case, the U.S. vs. Adair, that this land's reservation was for the purpose of agriculture. So as we apply that to the Klamath Irrigation area, the KID took the Bureau of Reclamation to court over its decisions to increase downstream flows to salmon, as well as the retention of water for the sucker fish.
So they want to retain this portion here for the sucker fish even though this portion of water does not belong to the Bureau or Fish and Wildlife to use for that purpose.
This project was created over 100 years ago for agriculture, to deliver water down this A Canal through a whole entire system there. This dam was completed, the Link River Dam, in 1921, to help regulate that source.
So in the process of Klamath Irrigation District having taken them to court, the State ultimately agreed with KID that the Bureau has the right to store the water and administer the water in Upper Lake, but the Bureau of Reclamation does not have the permit, the license, the right to use the water themselves for salmon in the river or for the sucker fish that stay in the lake.
Going further, Section 8 of the Reclamation Act clearly states that the Federal Government cannot interfere with the laws of States relating to the control or distribution of water used in irrigation.
So in 1978, California vs. the U.S. certified that a State can impose requirements under distribution of water through a Federal reclamation project as long as they are consistent with clear Congressional directives as Congress set this back up over 100 years ago and ongoing. The Congress has made it clear multiple times that the Klamath Project was designed and established for irrigation.
So if you want to concede just for a moment, playing along with Fish and Wildlife, that the current level at 4,140.4, and you take it down to 4,138, there is 173,000 acre-feet of water available for farmers right now that should not be taken, even if you concede the sucker fish total.
So we have got giant problems in the basin.
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