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Reality of the Klamath Basin
By Felice Pace
July 6, 2001
The image of a dust bowl in the Upper Klamath River Basin is not the reality. While there are impacts on irrigated agriculture, a combination of government (state and federal) funded emergency wells, pumping from canals as well as unregulated pumping from the Lost and Klamath Rivers, and private wells already in existence have resulted in a very green upper basin at this time. (note: the Upper Basin includes not only the 200,000 acre federal Klamath Project but also an equal amount of irrigated farmland that is being fully irrigated this year and which is not regulated).More wells are being drilled and more water will soon be available (the first Ca. state funded well yields 9,000 gallons per minute!).
However, even the permanent marshes on Lower Klamath and Tule Lake NWRs are going dry. There will be "take" of as many as 950 Bald Eagles if this situation does not change and significant impacts to migrating waterfowl. KFA challenges those reporters who have been reporting the about the "lack of water for farmers" to get the real facts and get a first hand look at the Basin.
There is water available for the Refuges. Refuge managers have asked Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to supply 15,000 acre feet to help them maintain the permanent marshes and provide a Fall flood up for eagles and waterfowl. This is only a fraction of the 64,000 acre feet which is what the refuges ordinarily use for Fall flood-up (64,000 acre feet). BOR has refused. They have the water but won't deliver it!
Please, call BOR managers (541-883-6935) and Sue Ellen Wooldrich, the lead on Klamath Issues in the office of the Interior Secretary (202-228-1820) to inquire as to why - when there is so much water available for irrigation within the federal Klamath Project, Interior is not making some water available for Bald Eagles. Only 15,000 acre feet are needed to keep a disaster from occurring - not to mention a new lawsuit which will be filed in late August if the water is not made available.
The Klamath Basin presents an opportunity for reporters and editors to move beyond the "fish vs farmer" story line in order to help your readers understand how endangered species issues are often a proxy for which sectors of the economy prosper and which are sacrificed. In this case, behind every fish (Suckers and Salmon) there stands a Native American, a sport fisherman and a commercial fisherman. Now that is a story worth telling!
The Coalition for the Klamath Basin is offering aerial and ground tours for press folks who want a first hand look at how green the "Dust Bowl in the Klamath Basin" is and of how dry the refuges are. If you would like to tour the Basin, give me a call at 530-467-5291.
Thank you for your interest in the Klamath Basin.
Sincerely,
Felice Pace
Klamath Forest Alliance
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.
