Guest Columnist Earl Blumenauer
Klamath Falls Herald & News
September 3, 2004

The Herald and News recently asked a question editorially of me: Is the route to solving the problems in the Basin through local bargaining or "a decision in Washington to take the most productive tenth of the Klamath Reclamation Project out of crops and start Basin agriculture into a death spiral?"

That is precisely the mischaracterization of both the issue and potential solutions that have made the problems in the Basin worse.

My position is clear. The federal government has promised more water over the last century to farmers, Native Americans, wildlife and endangered species than nature can deliver.

My amendment was not about eliminating farming, it was simply to phase out water-intensive agriculture on the lease-lands. There are crops and techniques that do not require water at a time when the quality is the worst and the quantity is the least.

If I were a resident of the Basin, I would be deeply concerned about a death spiral for Basin agriculture, but the threat is not my amendment. The threat is an unwillingness or an inability for national and local political leadership as well as local agriculture and community interests to deal with the real problems. There isn't enough water for all of the promises.

Extensive use of wells to supplement flows has resulted in a dramatic and dangerous reduction in the water table, creating water supply and quality problems for more than just farmers. The wildlife refuges are shrinking in size, due to lack of water, at exactly the time that some in Klamath Falls are awakening to the huge potential of having the largest concentration of migratory birds on the West Coast in their backyard.

Other forces will change the economics of agriculture in the Basin, such as hydro project relicensing due in 15 months, when farmers will see their first rate increase in nearly a century with electricity prices going up at least 10 and more likely 20 times. During my visits, I heard from a number of farmers who felt that this would make their operations uneconomical and drive down the value of their land to a fraction of what it is today.

The Klamath Basin is not alone in its crisis.

There are river basins throughout the West including the Colorado, the Columbia, and the Rio Grande, where people face similar struggles.

What is unique about the Klamath is that it is smaller in scale and solutions are more immediate and lower in cost. Instead of denying reality, misrepresenting positions, and attacking potential solutions, it is important to take advantage of interest, support, and urgency to make progress in the next 18 months.

The continued political stalemate and deteriorating situation in the Klamath Basin is bad not just for Native Americans, wildlife, and farmers. It is a serious problem for Oregon and the nation. I welcome continued discussion of how we make progress, and I will urge Oregonians to think in the long term about the broadest possible solutions.

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.