A dry year is here; so is the governor and he can be a big help  

March 9, 2010

   This year’s water year looks a lot like 2001 when the Klamath Reclamation Project was shut down and conflict and economic hardship tore the Basin. But there’s a welcome difference in the governor’s office.

   Unlike John Kitzhaber, who preceded Kulongoski, the present governor took an early interest in trying to settle water issues of the Klamath Basin.  

   Under Kulongoski, Oregon state agencies and administrators have been supportive and active since the early stages of developing the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, said Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, which represents irrigators on the 240,000-acre Klamath Project.

   As to Kulongoski’s presence in Klamath Falls as the bad irrigation season looms, “I think it’s important,” Addington said Friday. “In 2001, we didn’t have the governor’s (Kitzhaber’s) attention until too late. His (Kulongoski’s) getting here on the front end is important because he’ll have the state agency directors with him.”

   It’s also important because “this is a guy who can pick up the phone and call the Secretary of the Interior” and other important officials.   That includes such people as Jane Lubchenco, administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a former Oregon State University faculty member whose responsibilities include NOAA fisheries, a federal agency that has a lot to say about what happens on the Klamath River.

   ‘Important part of Oregon’

   Susan Fry, Area Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation in Klamath Falls, agreed Friday Kulongoski’s visit is important and said it shows “the governor really understands that the Klamath Basin is an important part of Oregon.”

   She said she hoped the governor’s visit would show the difficulty of the water year and mean help in getting federal assistance.

   That includes getting a declaration of a drought emergency that would make available such things as low-interest loans.  

   Given a choice, of course, irrigators would rather be planting crops and harvesting and selling them than looking for government help.

   But the reality could well be different this year and government help may be necessary and continue to be necessary at times until an overall agreement is implemented on the Basin’s water resources. That’s the promise incorporated into the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement signed by Kulongoski and others a couple of weeks ago, but it is at least a decade away from implementation and only if scientific studies support it.

   This is 2010. The problem’s here. The governor’s here. He’s brought help and can use the governor’s office as a bully pulpit to lobby the federal government on behalf of the Klamath Basin.

   Good.