For an area steeped in water-related challenges, the summer of 2010 is just the latest obstacle for the production area.

What is ironic is that it seems many farmers in the basin are feeling heavy criticism for trying to make the best out of a bad situation, notes Katy Coba, Oregon Department of Agriculture director.

"The people of the Klamath Basin, in particular the producers, deserve our attention," says Coba. "I'm impressed with the way local farmers and ranchers are trying to move forward when there simply isn't enough water to go around this year."

The word "challenging" doesn't seem to describe what the Klamath Basin growers are going through adequately, she adds. "I am grateful for their hard work and willingness to continue producing under trying circumstances," Coba notes.

Coba and the State Board of Agriculture toured the basin in June, listening to farmers and ranchers concerned about their summer irrigation resources. The tour was organized by the board's newest member, Tracey Liskey, a diversified Klamath Basin producer.

"We've been working hard for the past five years on finding solutions to our water crisis," says Liskey. "We've developed some things that, if they work like they are supposed to, will hopefully be an answer.

"But it will take five to ten years to implement. So we have to make sure we stay whole in the meantime. Everybody has to work for a common goal to get all of us through this."

The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, years in the making but just signed into action this year, attempts to address all uses and issues surrounding basin water. The complex agreement moves toward a settlement that essentially gives agriculture certainty and reliability of future water releases from the Upper Klamath Lake even if the amount is less than what irrigators are accustomed to getting.

This year's Klamath Basin snowpack is two-thirds of average, underscoring the need for action in the farming region which spans into Northern California and southern Oregon.