Tim Holt’s column on the Klamath Basin makes
some excellent points, but misses two of the keys (HCN, 9/13/04:
Failure of leadership, not a lack of water, dooms the
Klamath).
Any rational person familiar with the situation
understands that demand reduction is key to rebalancing water in
the basin. Gross overallocation of water by the federal government
and states is at the heart of the problem. As important is new
water storage and access to historical spawning habitat for
endangered Lost River and shortnosed suckers in and adjacent to
Upper Klamath Lake.
However, each time a bipartisan
opportunity has arisen to jointly address demand reduction, new
storage, and water quality improvement, the Klamath Water Users
Association has pulled political strings to kill it. The
association has also worked diligently behind the scenes to try to
kill the one new water-storage project that has the support of
nearly everyone: The 2,800 acre Barnes Ranch, diked and drained
decades ago, can be reopened to Upper Klamath Lake. By doing so,
historical spawning habitat for endangered species will be made
available, and up to 50,000 acre-feet of water can be stored for
myriad uses.
Why the resistance to opening Barnes Ranch?
Is it because the irrigators have been unsuccessful in securing
agreements for all the stored water to go to farmers in the Klamath
Project? Is it because they have their own pet storage project that
the Bureau of Reclamation has already said is unrealistic and would
cost upwards of three-quarters of a billion dollars? Is it because
it represents 2,800 fewer acres that will be grazed? Or could it be
that the water users association is perfectly happy with a status
quo that gives them almost everything they want?
The triad
of demand reduction, water-quality improvement, and new storage
like Barnes Ranch has always been the answer for the Klamath Basin.
The reason why it is not happening is increasingly apparent as
well.
Rich McIntyre
Hailey, Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Klamath farmers stand in the way of progress.
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