EPA’S REVERSAL ON WHAT’S UPSTREAM RINGS HOLLOW TO AG GROUPS FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016 VOLUME 89, NUMBER 15 Page 3 WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM $2.00 State, federal offi cials sign new Klamath dam agreements By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press KLAMATH, Calif. — Top state and federal offi cials made their latest Klamath River dam removal pact offi cial April 6, as proponents vowed to keep pushing for water-sharing agreements that would benefi t Klamath Basin farmers. California Gov. Jerry Brown and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown were joined by U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and other dignitaries at a resort on the Yurok Tribe’s reserva- tion, where they inked the fi nal version of the dam-removal plan they announced in Feb- ruary. The plan calls for a non- profi t organization to take control of the four dams from owner Pacifi Corp and seek a go-ahead for their removal from the Federal Energy Reg- ulatory Commission. “It’s a day to reaffi rm our shared commitment to restore and heal the Klamath Basin,” Jewell said, “and to acknowl- edge the incredible and brave partners and leaders who, de- “It’s really a promise to ag that we’re going to stay at the table with them and continue to support the things they need.” Craig Tucker, the Karuk Tribe’s natural resources policy advocate spite setbacks, stayed at the table.” California’s Jerry Brown said the agreement is a testa- ment to “non-extremism and non-polarization,” as people from different backgrounds worked to put it together. “What we’re doing today in healing this river has impli- cations not only for the United States but all over the world,” he said. In addition, the parties sig- naled a plan to revive the com- panion Klamath Basin Resto- ration Agreement, including water-sharing agreements be- tween farmers, tribes and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and various fi sheries improve- ments around the basin. The side agreement in- cludes support for federal legislation that would provide money to operate two diver- sion dams within the basin that Pacifi Corp would turn over to Reclamation so irrigators wouldn’t have to pick up the cost, said Craig Tucker, the Karuk Tribe’s natural resourc- es policy advocate. “It’s really a promise to ag that we’re going to stay at the table with them and contin- ue to support the things they need,” Tucker told the Capital Press before the ceremony. Oregon’s Kate Brown said the agreements will heal di- visions in the Klamath Ba- sin, providing fi sheries im- provements for tribes and “a sustainable and predictable source of water” for ranchers and farmers. “It’s about the future we want to leave for our children and our children’s children,” she said. Turn to DAM, Page 12 THE WEST’S WATERWORKS Courtesy of Bureau of Reclamation The John Keys Pump Generation Plant intakes are seen at the Grand Coulee Dam. The 12 pumps send water from the Columbia River to Banks Lake and 670,000 acres of farmland in the Columbia Basin Proj- ect in Central Washington state. Farmers rely on massive natural and man-made waterworks By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Connell, Wash., farmers Kevin Lyle and Orman Johnson stand on one of Johnson’s groundwater well siteson March 17. Lyle and Johnson hope to replace their declining aquifer water with Columbia River water as early as 2019. “We need it today,” John- son says. C ONNELL, Wash. — Orman Johnson and Kevin Lyle worry about the wells that pump water from deep with- in the earth beneath their Central Washington farms. Soon, they fear, there will be no water for their crops. Johnson and Lyle live about a mile from each other, and the fl ow of water from their wells is lower each year, Lyle said. “If they’re producing at all,” said Johnson, who is also chairman of the Columbia Basin Development League board. “The quality of the water is not as good, either. It’s a high pH, high sodium.” “They pump for a while each year,” Johnson said. “In the spring they Matthew Weaver Capital Press Turn to WATER, Page 12 Death of OR-4 a sobering turn for Oregon’s wolf plan Shooting renews debate over managing predators By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press They called him OR-4, and by some accounts he was Oregon’s biggest and baddest wolf, 97 pounds of cunning in his prime and the longtime alpha male of Wallowa Coun- ty’s infl uential Imnaha Pack. But OR-4 was nearly 10, old for a wolf in the wild. And his mate limped with a bad back leg. Accompanied by two yearlings, they apparently separated from the rest of the Imnaha Pack or were forced out. In March, they attacked and devoured or injured calves and sheep fi ve times in private pastures. So on March 31, Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life staff boarded a helicopter, rose up and shot all four. The decisive action by ODFW may have marked a somber turning point in the state’s work to restore wolves Turn to WOLVES, Page 10 Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife biologists place a new GPS collar on OR-4, the Imnaha wolf pack’s alpha male, after darting him from a helicopter in 2012. Courtesy of ODFW 15-2/#5