tribes to talk water accord dispute notice klamath 012815

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Tribes to talk water accord, dispute notice; meetings allow members to voice opinions on Senate bill

By LACEY JARRELL, Herald and News 1/28/15

A series of meetings have been scheduled for members of the Klamath Tribes to discuss the proposed Klamath Basin water settlement package.

According to a news release, the Klamath Tribes tribal council and Klamath Tribes Negotiation Team scheduled the meetings to update Tribes members about the status of the Klamath Water Recovery and Economic Restoration Act (Senate Bill 133), and Klamath Basin adjudication.

SB 133 provides legislation to authorize and implement the Klamath Basin agreements: The bill includes the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA), both signed in 2010, and the 2014 Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement. The potential Mazama Forest acquisition outlined in the KBRA also will be discussed.

Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry said because the settlement package was not enacted by Congress last year as stakeholders had hoped, misinformation about the Tribes position on SB 133 has begun spreading.

“We feel it’s important to bring our members up to speed on the facts,” Gentry said.

At the meetings, Gentry hopes to clarify that council members still support legislation moving forward and that the settlement package will only be supported as it is written now.

According to the release, meetings also will allow tribal members to comment about whether they think it is in the Klamath Tribes best interest to file a Dispute Initiation Notice as provided for in the KBRA.

According to the agreement, if a signatory party believes the KBRA’s bargained-for benefits are no longer achievable and the agreement should terminate, the party must submit a dispute initiation notice within 60 days of Dec. 31, 2014.

The meetings are meant to help prepare tribal members for the general council meeting Saturday, Feb. 28, at 10 a.m., according to the release. The general council meeting will be at the Klamath Tribes Administration Building in Chiloquin. The Klamath Tribes have 4,838 enrolled Tribal members, the release said.

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