Lawsuit Threatens Resort
Siskiyou Daily News
April 03, 2001

SOMES BAR - Doug and Heidi Cole have always considered themselves to be environmentalists.

They are avid outdoors people, living in the steep, rugged country near Somes Bar down the Klamath River. Taking care of natural resources is something that has always been a top priority for them and something they believe they have been doing since purchasing the Marble Mountain Ranch in 1994.

However, now their very existence is being threatened by a "notice of intent to sue" over the use of a water diversion that powers a hydroplant on their property. The diversion comes from Stanshaw Creek, which is on Forest Service land. With the nearest power lines more than seven miles away, the Coles said hydroelectricity is the cleanest and cheapest way to generate electricity to the ranch.

It is the way electricity has always been generated on the property, Doug Cole said.

The notice of intent to sue was filed by the Coles' neighbor, Conrad Fisher, and by the environmental group Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA). The group claims the water diversion violates various sections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and is harmful to steelhead and coho salmon.

Water rights

The crux of the matter actually lies in the issue of water rights. Felice Pace, KFA's project coordinator, maintains the Coles do not have the legal right to take 3 cubic feet of water per second (cfs) from Stanshaw Creek - the amount needed during dry months to keep the hydroplant running. Pace also claims the Coles have put in a new dam - a concrete structure - and changed the diversion from .5 cfs to 3 cfs.

However, the Coles dispute the allegations. According to their records, the Marble Mountain Ranch actually began as a mining claim in 1867 - even before there was a Forest Service. It can even be argued that it is one of the oldest water rights within the state of California.

In 1911, Samuel Stanshaw patented the claim and the accompanying water rights became a deeded part of that claim.

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