| Water Users Support Study of
Long Lake Offstream Storage Project
(Note: In a related issue, please sign the petition at this site: http://www.petitiononline.com/StopCOB/ The Klamath Basin farmers thank you!) August 15, 2003 By Dan Keppen Executive Director, Klamath Water Users Association 2455 Patterson Street, Suite #3 Klamath Falls, OR 97603 541-883-6100 Fax:541-883-8893 The Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) Board of Directors last night endorsed the Klamath County Commission's proposal to further study a proposed offstream storage project at Long Lake. The KWUA Board unanimously supported sending a letter of support to the County Commissioners, urging that Long Lake and other potentially viable storage projects be screened for feasibility. The Klamath Basin Water Supply Enhancement Act of 2000 provides the authority to conduct such a feasibility study, but funding for the program in recent years has been diverted to address unexpected crises that are becoming the norm in the Klamath watershed. Long Lake is an enclosed narrow valley located just southwest of Upper Klamath Lake. Reclamation completed a preliminary study of this proposal in the late 1980s, but the findings were inconclusive and suggested that additional study would be required to determine the project's feasibility. This project appears to have potential to help meet the water demands of the Klamath River watershed. "Ultimately, the legitimate water demands of the Klamath Basin can best be satisfied through the development of new water storage facilities," said KWUA Board member Bill Kennedy. "The federal government should move with all possible haste to undertake feasibility studies for Long Lake and other viable storage projects using the authority already provided by Congress." Preliminary estimates suggest that 350,000 acre-feet of water could be stored in Long Lake without substantially modifying the proposed reservoir site. http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/articles/KWUA-Newsletter/0kwuahome.htm Additional recommended reading: http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/
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