For Immediate Release: March 30, 2005

For More Information Contact:
Steve Pedery, 503-283-6343 ext. 212

GAO Klamath Report Cites Problems with Water Bank

Government Accountability Office analysis finds problems with water bank program, details possible solutions to Klamath water crisis

PORTLAND - A report released today by the US Government Accountability Office detailed problems with the US Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath “water bank” program, recommended improvements in it, and offered analysis of other possible solutions to the Klamath water crisis. Conservationists welcomed the report’s findings, and urged the Bush administration and Congress to act on them.

“The water bank has serious problems, but it has gotten more water in the Klamath River for salmon and the commercial fishing and Native American communities that depend on them,” said Steve Pedery, Klamath wildlife advocate for Oregon Natural Resources Council. “But this report shows the water bank is a band aid, not a long term solution.”

Among the report’s key findings are:

• The Bureau of Reclamation has been secretive about the water bank, and has done a poor job explaining its activities to conservationists, commercial fishermen, Tribes, and the general public. The Bureau has also done a poor job of tracking the results of several water bank programs, including land idling, to ensure taxpayers are getting what they pay for.
• The water bank has been successful in boosting flows in the Klamath River (this year it is supposed to provide an additional 100,000 acre feet of water for salmon).
• The groundwater pumping encouraged by the water bank in 2004 is likely not sustainable.
• The water bank will cost US taxpayers $65 million by 2011. With no other program to deal with the over-promised nature of water in the Klamath Basin, taxpayers could be forced to extend the water bank into perpetuity.
• Permanent demand reduction through a voluntary program to buy back land and water rights could be cheaper in the long run. The GAO estimates that a permanent program to provide 100,000 acre feet of water for fish through water and land retirement would cost between $15 and $130 million. Even at the highest cost estimate, over 20 years such a program would be cheaper for taxpayers than the water bank.

“In the long run, the cheapest and most effective way to deal with the Klamath water crisis is a voluntary program to buy back water rights and retire them,” added Pedery. “By bringing the demand for water back into balance with supply, we can make sure there is more of this precious resource left to go around for everyone.”

The GAO’s cost estimate does not reflect one simple and inexpensive way to reduce the demand for water in the basin-ending the practice of leasing over 22,000 acres of public land on Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges for commercial agriculture. By managing these lands for bald eagles rather than potatoes, the federal government could free up water for the Klamath River and other uses while at the same time improving conditions for wildlife. Ending commercial agriculture on Tule Lake refuge could also allow up to 100,000 acre feet of water to be stored there in wetlands and open water areas for other uses.

The report also outlined various options for increasing water storage around Upper Klamath Lake by restoring wetlands and marsh areas. ONRC strongly supports plans to acquire the Barnes Ranch in order to recover historic wetlands, as well as other similar projects mentioned in the report.

“We can’t keep asking US taxpayers to funnel money into the Klamath Irrigation Project with nothing to show for it,” concluded Pedery. “We need a program to actually solve the problems of the basin by working with landowners to permanently reduce the demand for water. We hope this GAO report provides the Bush administration, Senator Gordon Smith, and Representative Greg Walden with the wake up call they need to get behind such a program.”