Rebecca Clarren’s article on the Bureau of
Reclamation’s Klamath River Basin Water Bank fails to mention
that over the past five years, $50 million has been given to
farmers in the Basin to reduce their water use through improved
irrigation efficiency (HCN, 10/17/05: ‘Water bank’ drags river
basin deeper into debt). Where is the water that has been saved as
a result of giving this massive taxpayer subsidy to Klamath Basin
irrigators?
Getting the answer would require a government
investigation. The federal Natural Resource Conservation Service
(NRCS), which disbursed the money, says that details can’t be
revealed even with a Freedom of Information Act request. The
Klamath Forest Alliance has asked Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and
other members of Congress to conduct an investigation, but we have
been repeatedly rebuffed.
It seems that the
representatives who brought home the bacon are not interested in
learning how it was spent. I suspect there are some big skeletons
locked in the Basin’s NRCS closets.
Felice
Pace
Klamath Riverkeeper
Klamath,
California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Skeletons in the Klamath Basin’s closets.
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