Irrigators Hold A Key National Wildlife Refuge Hostage
By Felice Pace, Siskiyou Sentinel
August 10, 2001

Over 1,000 Bald Eagles Could Be Harmed!

For over two months, irrigation interests in the Klamath River Basin have refused to allow canals which they control to be used by the federal government to deliver water to a key wintering area for Bald eagles and a key component of the Pacific Flyway. Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, which lies along the eastern portion of the California-Oregon border, hosts as many as 2 million waterfowl, about 80% of Pacific Flyway birds, during the Fall and Spring migrations. These waterfowl provide a critical winter food source for as many as 1,000 American Bald eagles - the largest concentration of these birds in the lower 48 states.

As a result of the refusal by the US Bureau of Reclamation and irrigation district leaders to allow water deliveries, most of the seasonal and permanent marshes on Lower Klamath Refuge have dried up. Miles of cracked mud flats devoid of birds and subject to dust storms can now be seen where there should be healthy marshes teaming with waterfowl. That is why four conservation organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court on August 7th seeking to force the federal government to take control of the canals and deliver water the refuge desperately needs.

Faced with the Bald eagle lawsuit. Interior Secretary Gale Norton has now decided to deliver the minimal amount of water needed during the month of August. This became possible when farmers in the Klamath Drainage District agreed to allow the water to pass their headgates. However, the water must still be routed around Tule Lake Irrigation District whose leaders stubbornly refuses to allow water to flow to Lower Klamath Refuge.

Secretary Norton has taken a step in the right direction. However, it remains unclear whether she and her aides can bring the renegade Tule Lake Irrigation District into line. Secretary Norton has only committed the minimum water needed in August. She should quickly and publicly commit to providing the water needed in September and October.

Providing water to Lower Klamath Refuge will not take water from farmers. At this point in the season, fields which have not previously received water are a total loss and can't benefit from the limited available supply. That's why the federal government has authorized $20 million for payments to farmers impacted by the record drought in the Klamath River Basin. Bald eagles, ducks and geese have no similar safety net.

Furthermore, the federal government and the states of Oregon and California have already given the farmers over 50 new irrigation wells costing state and federal taxpayers an estimated$15 million dollars. This multi-million dollar groundwater give away has been justified as necessary to irrigate emergency soil conservation plantings paid for by the federal government to prevent wind and soil erosion. However, this soil conservation water is being denied to Lower Klamath Refuge, where hot winds are currently eroding fragile soils exposed as the marshes have dried-up under the intense summer sun.

The State of California has an obligation to deliver emergency soil conservation water to Lower Klamath Refuge. California's Governor Grey Davis clearly has the authority to control the renegade Tule Lake Irrigation District. Because he has failed to exercise this control, he must also bear responsibility for the dried up marshes on Lower Klamath Refuge.

At least one influential irrigation leader has actually attempted to cut a deal with federal refuge managers. In exchange for releasing the desperately needed water, this leader wanted the federal manager to stop advocating for elimination of commercial farming on refuge land. The leader directly benefits from those leases but they are clearly of no benefit to wildlife. Conservation organizations have been working for years to return these federal lands to management for wildlife purposes.

The image of a wealthy farmer shaking down a federal wildlife manager may seem bizarre but it has been a common practice among the privileged farmers who for 77 years have had an entire river system managed so that they could have all the water they desire. The blatant disregard for law by farmers and their supporters at the irrigation gates in Klamath Falls is not a new or an isolated incident. Tule Lake Irrigation District is another good example of the lawlessness that results when state and federal officials allow "local control" of scarce resources. If this renegade District won't work with the Wildlife Refuge managers and within the law, Governor Davis should step in and take it over.

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