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 Alvin Alexander Cheyne

January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005

 

 

 

      

Agreement gives Basin chance to be proactive
Klamath Falls Herald and News
Letter to the Editor
January 28, 2010
    With or without the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, change is coming to the Klamath Basin.

    With or without the restoration agreement, the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, water adjudication, Tribal rights, higher power rates will still be here.

    Whether the dams come out or are retrofitted to meet relicensing requirements, it will cost the ratepayers and taxpayers a lot of money.

    Without the restoration agreement, state and federal organizations such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environment Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior, Department of Water Resources and various state and federal courts will mandate what will happen in the Klamath Basin.

    Then people can react; run around, jump and shout, have rallies and marches, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for lawyers and litigation. People will spend another decade fighting all the while the mandates and changes will be taking effect.

    With the restoration agreement, people in the Klamath Basin will be proactive in decisions that affect our Basin farms, ranches, wetlands, rivers and streams. The restoration agreement will set up vehicles and methods to collaboratively solve many of the problems that are facing the Basin.

    Through the restoration agreement, we will get technical and financial assistance from the federal government to tackle these complex issues. The restoration agreement has shown that very diverse parties can come together for a common goal. Instead of expending huge amounts of energy and resources fighting, we could put them towards actually solving the problem.

    The restoration agreement gives us a path to follow but there is still a lot of hard work ahead.

Matt Walter

Chiloquin
 
 

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