WEDNESDAY. APWL 21, 105
PAGE TEN
HERALPAND NEWS. KLAMATH FAIXS. OREGON
Klamath Kiver Commission Seeks Jasin Water
Problem Solution
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THE SHADED PORTION OF THIS GRAPH ihewt the flow of
he Klamath River at Keno for the period of record, 1905 to
By LEWIS A. STANLEY
His possibility of a diversion of
water from tlie Upper Klamath
Basin to the Central Valley of Cali
fornia, perhaps via Pitt River, over
violent objections of the people of
Klamath County, was one of the
principal reasons for the 1953 Act
of the Oregon Legislative Assem
bly, setting up the Oregon Klam-
. ath River .Commission and pre
scribing its duties, The Commis-
slon, appointed by Governor Pat
terson consists of Nelson Reed of
Klamath Falls, chairman; James
i Kerns Jr., Klamath Falls, vice
chairman; George Btevenson,
Olene; Harry Pearson, Fort Klam
ath and Ralph Koozer, Ashland.
It has the duties of making a study
of the present and future needs
and uses of water from the Klam
ath River and Its tributaries and
' negotiating with the State of Cali
fornia a compact to govern the
division of the waters between the
two states.
The 1953 California Legislature
set up a similar commission with
similar duties but at this writing
its members have not yet been
appointed.
, In addition to Uio suggestion of
; a possible diversion of Klnmath
River waters outside the Klamath
Basin, there are other matters of
Interstate interest. The nature and
extent of existing water rights for
power and irrigation in both states
are somewhat uncertain. There is
a disagreement of long standing
between the State of Oregon and
the Bureau of Reclamation over
the scope of the letter's water
rights for the Klamath Project
which includes lands in both states.
There is a serious decision in which
the people of the Klamath Basin
are intensely interested, how con
fronting Oregon authorities: Wheth
er or not the California Orecon
Power Company shall be' granted
a license for a new hydro-electric
project on the Klamath River in
Oregon. This question is closely
related to the proposal of (he Bu
reau or Reclamation to irrigate a
part of Butte Valley In Northern
uanrorrua with water from the
Klamath diverted In Oregon and
to combine this witn a hydro
electric development in California
which would destroy potential pow
er sites along tne river in Oregon.
It is this latter subject that I
wish to discuss because It holds
a great deal of Interest and a de
cision mut be reached in the near
future,
As a background, we need to go
back In history to 1906. In that
year Oregon passed a law under
which filings could be made by
tne Reclamation Service on waters
Mils.
It's LADIES' WEEK
at the SPRAY CENTER
Swing 'em
out of your
hair!
Keep 'em eft the
streets and keep
The kids happy.
(Portland n t 1 e r.
$27.95), Sproy Center price, basic set, $26.50. (Let Pop
set It up the kids can help him). .
It has now been learned that the turn of the cen
tury was made by a woman driver.
See these specials, this week only:
FEED 'EM SPECIAL Plant foods, FTE, etc.
DE-BUG 'EM SPECIAL Insocticldes, fungicides.
PRUNE 'EM SPECIAL Shears, trowel.
WATER 'EM SPECIAL High quality hose.
Buy ALL your summer gardening needs now,
RnpMsllontlon Is a Woman's anility fo read between
a man's lines,
. ft'S' A , .X
e
Trees end shrubs
that vrlnter In our
nurseries are sure
to grew in the
summer , , Visit
eur nursery during
this special Ladies'
Week.
Come on down to the Sproy Center , , . visit the Paint
Pot , , , take the "nose test" on DuPont't odorless points.
"
In the matrimonial race, a girl unually Is on her
last lap when she gcLi eniaged.
Place. --Jl-,-'.'iJ
The Spray Center ip,
Telepf one Tulelolce 7-2391 ciimh
11- Coma
'Pl tinA
see
US-
Estt-West Road and Main Tuleloke. Calif.
Arrleali.nl
195? in thousands of acre feet for each month- The staggered I feet per month. The horizontal line, marked "1350 C.F.S."
line shows for each year the annual flows expressed as acre I shows the quantity required to supply. Copco with . 1 250
ment which runs for 50 years, or
until 1967, provides that Copco may
regulate the water surface ot tne
lake between elevations 4137.0 and
4143.3, thereby Impounding and re
leasing as needed 480,000 acre-feet
of water. It restricts Copco's pri
vilege, however, in that the gov
ernment may take over control
and operation of the dam at any
time when the water level in the
lake drops to within two-tenths
foot of the prescribed low water
elevatfon. It recognizes the prior
right of Copco to 205 second-feet
of water for the west side plant
on Link River and a superior right
of the Bureau to all water in excess
of that 205 second-feet required for
irrigation on the Klamath Project
as described In the 1905 filings
with the state. It provides that
Copco shall pay all costs of con
struction of the dam and levees
and damages to property around
the lake. It provides that Copco
should furnish power for irriuatlon
and drainage pumping "on the pro
ject witnin a radius of 35 miles
of Merrill at attractively low rates,
thus furnishing necessary power to
the project at a cost probably low
er than it could be provided by
ft federally owned plant. In 1951
the average rate for such power
was 5.67 mills per kilowatt-hour.
The State of Oregon violently ob
jected to this contract. So also
did the Klamath Irrigation District.
They went to Congress and tried
to gpt a bill passed authorizing
the state to sue the United States
to set aside and nullify the con
tract. Bills were presented In
Congress in 1926 and in April of
that year a Joint hearing was held
oy me committees on Irrigation
and Reclamation of the Senate and
the House. The position of the state
was that in granting to the Bu
reau of Reclamation the right to
waters for the Klamath Project and
the privilege of storing water In
the lake, It did not give the govern
ment a right to barter away these
rights. In a written presentation at
required for reclamation projects.
In the same year we passed a law
giving the Reclamation Service a
light to raise and lower the sur
face of Upper Klamath Lake and
ceding to the United States any
lands forming the bed of the lake
reclaimed as a result of such oper
ations. The Bureau made a filing
under the law and stated therein
its Intention to utilize all of the
waters of Klamath River and tri
butaries, naming these tributaries
such as the Williamson. Sprague
and Lost Rivers and many small
er streams. It has been and still Is
the position of the Bureau that by
virtue ot such filing it acquired
title to all these waters and no
subsequent appropriations thereof
should be permitted by the State
of Oregon. '
In 1830 the Attorney General of
Oreon rendered an opinion in
which he upheld the Bureau's po
sition, and directed the State En
gineer against granting additional
water rights in conflict with the
Bureau's claim. However, in 1950,
following some pertinent decisions
in the United States ' Supreme
Court, (Nebraska v. Wyoming, 295
US 40 and Ickes v. Fox, 300 US 82),
the Attorney General rendered a
wholly different opinion, holding
that the rights of the Bureau are
limited to the waters actually bene
ficially used on the project de
scribed in the 1905 filing with the
Oregon State Engineer. The exact
scope of the original Bureau pro
ject was not defined In the filing
but it is generally understood to
Include the lands now served by
the project plus some fringe areas
that can be served water from the
existing system, some 200,000 to
250.000 acres.
Early In the history of the Klam
ath Project development It became
evident that the natural flow from
Upper Klamath Lake would not be
sufficient to provide for the ac
knowledged prior right of the Cali
fornia Oregon Power Company for
205 second-leet of water for Its
small plant on the west side of
Link River and for irrigation of
the project lands, without some
storage in the lake. About this time
Copco was Interested In develop
ment of some power sites on the
Klamath In California, at what is
now known as Copco, just south of
the state line, and seasonal stor
age was necessary to make this
development feasible.
In 1917 the United States and
Copco entered into an agreement
whereby Copco acting for and on
behalf of the United States would
build a dam on Link River at the
outlet of the lake and upon com
pletion would deed the dam and
the land on which it Is situated
to the United States. The agree-
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I Old Midland Road Ph. 3924
Paint Up! Clean Up!
ii
DO-IT YOURSELF"
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4' Step Ladder - Reg. 4.40
5' Step Ladder - Reg. 5.50
6' Step Ladder - Reg. 6.60
8' Step Ladder - Reg. 8.80
NOW 4.09
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BASIN
BLDG. MATERIALS
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Malin
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107
cubic feet per second and allow for 100 cubic feet per sec
ond for fish life.'
the hearing the Attorney General
of Oregon stated, "The effect of
the agreement between the Secr
tary of the Interior and the said
company, if sustained, is to confer
upon the latter rights which were
not available to it or to apy other
corporation directly and which had
been expressly withdrawn by the
legislature of the state. Such a
plain evasion of tlie law and
attempt to create a monopoly and
deprive the state of its regulatory
control over power companies and
the revenue to be derived from
them must not be permitted to
stand."
The Joint Committee, In Its wis
dom, refused to renort the bill out
favorably and it never reached the
floors of the House and Senate,
In other words, these representa
tives of the people decided the con
tract was. a good thing for the peo
ple of the Klamath Basin and re
fused to allow the matter to be
tried in the courts to determine
whether the rights and powers of
Iho state had been Infringed upon.
' The same problem is now before)
us again. The Federal Power Com
(Continued on page 11)
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