The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Oregon has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Klamath Irrigation District (KID) Infrastructure Modernization Project.
The agency determined the project will not cause significant impacts to the environment. With a completed environmental assessment, the project is now eligible for federal funding and may move into final design and construction.
“Potential impacts to water, vegetation, fish and wildlife, and human resources were heavily considered in the decision,” the FONSI read. “As a result, the agency’s Preferred Alternative would result in short- and long-term beneficial impacts to the environmental resources potentially impacted by the Preferred Alternative.”
The KID is proposing to modernize district irrigation infrastructure to improve its system efficiency. The project would include piping and/or lining canals and upgrading select pump stations. Improvements under consideration may be funded under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 and would address water conveyance and operation inefficiencies.
“These measures would improve the use and control over water throughout the district and be more resilient to drought,” NRCS said.
The project is a joint collaboration between NRCS Oregon and KID as the project sponsor and the Bureau of Reclamation as a cooperating agency, in coordination with other agencies, stakeholders and the public. — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
