Klamath Farmers Harvest Taxpayer Dollars
By Jim McCarthy
Winter 2002

Many Klamath Project farmers took home excessive sums of taxpayer-funded relief money this drought year, according to a recent report by Klamath Forest Alliance. The minimum federal relief payments of $129 per acre nearly quadrupled the average per acre net cash return of $34 for Klamath County (OR) farmland during 1997, when water was plentiful. In addition, aid payments did not follow a need-based plan, and the indiscriminate payment process brought uneven results. Farmers who grew crops through the summer with partial water deliveries or emergency well water took home the same amount of aid as neighbors with no water and no crops to bring to market.

The farmers of Tulelake, California enjoyed the largest payments and greatest share of the $48 million bailout from state and federal taxpayers. State and federal funds channeled to Tulelake alone topped $14 million. Farmers in Tulelake responded to the windfall with a festive "Big Check" celebration and a "golden shovel" ceremony. According to the report, Tulelake has traditionally garnered the largest farm subsidies in the Upper Klamath Basin. Federal payments to Tulelake Irrigation District over the last five years averaged $21 per acre annually, eclipsing the $2 to $4 per acre averages for farmlands in the surrounding region.

"Our report is based entirely on government statistics, the text of legislation, newspaper articles, and the recently published ECONorthwest economic report on the Upper Klamath Basin. You can check out our sources on every last detail." said Jim McCarthy, Conservation Specialist with the Alliance and author of the report. He added, "We hope the report will help convince politicians to stop the knee-jerk pork handouts, and get down to the serious business of finding long-term solutions to the Klamath Basins problems. It should be an eye-opener for the American public as well."

"This report makes it clear that the government safety net for agriculture did the job for Klamath Project farmers this year." said Felice Pace, KFAs Conservation Director. "But its a bit shameful that a small group of wealthy farmers got so much money while drought-stricken farmers outside of the Project got so little." Pace was eager to affirm the Alliances strong support of sustainable agriculture. "Neither this report nor the Klamath Forest Alliance are anti-agriculture or anti-farmer. Indeed, for the past twelve years, we have been trying to engage farmers throughout the Klamath River Basin in efforts to balance the waters in a way that is fair to all interests and which will support ecologically responsible and sustainable agriculture."

Founded by the federal government in 1905, the Klamath Project is a 200,000-acre irrigation project located in the high desert along the Oregon and California border. In the spring of 2001, the federal government curtailed irrigation deliveries to farmers following a punishing drought and Endangered Species Act rulings that made the survival of the regions threatened fish and wildlife a priority.

For fish and wildlife, as well as Native Americans, commercial fishermen, and outdoor recreation businesses, the changes in water management represented belated relief. Water was provided at survival levels for endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and threatened Coho salmon in the Klamath River. Following a lawsuit by conservation groups, the Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a critical habitat for Bald eagles and migrating waterfowl, also received water deliveries. Among irrigators long accustomed to having the first priority for water deliveries, the changes sparked a firestorm of controversy. Over the course of the summer irrigators responded with rallies, vandalism, and lawsuits. These acts cost taxpayers some $800,000, and generated intense media coverage. Time and again, irrigators made dire predictions of economic devastation. KFAs report makes it clear these predictions did not come to pass.

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