Klamath Falls, ORE– ON Friday KAGO News received an email in which The Klamath Irrigation District expressed frustration with the effects of dam removals.
In the email, KID describes a promise of an agricultural benefit in the Klamath Reclamation Project from the dam removal that included reduced flows in the Klamath River with dam removal and water quality conditions would be better, which they believe is just not real.
They say the Klamath Basin restoration agreement promised as much as 385,000 acre-feet of water but in reality, the amounts today are less than 200,000 acre-feet per year with a bottom range of 49,000 acre-feet modeled for years like 2021 and 2022.
To date, they claim few promises by dam removal advocates and government agencies have been kept.
According to the email, Klamath Reclamation Project irrigators should anticipate shortages in irrigation demand every year through 2029, when this Proposed Action may expire.
The email concluded by saying dams provide important services like electricity, flood control, and water storage for irrigation.
Their removal has disrupted these services and the local ecosystem.
They say Promises were made that dam removal would benefit salmon and water quality, but early evidence suggests severe negative impacts instead.
