Side Bars

   TRACEY LISKEY, Klamath Reclamation Project irrigator

   ‘We managed to survive with all the help we got’

   “It was a year we managed to survive with all the help we got,” said Tracey Liskey, an irrigator on the Klamath Reclamation Project. As for next year? “I’m enjoying the rain and wet snow so maybe next year we don’t have this problem,” he said.

   DAVID BITTS, Northern California fisherman

   Counting on the first crabbing paycheck

   EUREKA, Calif. — David Bitts just laid out his crab traps and is hoping it will be a good haul this year. “There’s a little race going on right now between when my savings run out and my first crab check comes in,” the Northern California coast fisherman said. Bitts has relied more on crabbing to make fishing pay as salmon runs became sparser in the past few years. This year, he was able to catch maybe eight fish a day, a far cry from the hundreds of pounds that could be caught in the past. Still, “it was marginally worth (fishing) this year,” he said. While income from crabbing will help, there’s no guarantee the checks will be that big, especially since early projections show there aren’t much crab in the area he’s fishing. The less than average seasons are eating into him financially. “Maybe I’m taking my retirement in installments,” he said on having to draw from his savings to keep his finances afloat. “Maybe I’ll fish ’til I drop dead. I guess there are worse ways to go.” Still, Bitts said he is cautiously optimistic for the next salmon season. Early projections show there may be more salmon than in previous years. Another good sign: he hasn’t heard a lot of fishermen say they planned to quit after the last season.

   ED VIETS, Proponent of water storage plan

   Farmers receptive to water storage idea

   Ed Viets, a long-time Klamath Basin chiropractor, also grew potatoes, alfalfa and barley in Butte Valley. Those lands are now leased to strawberry farmers, but his interest in agriculture-related issues remains. He’s proposed creating a lake within Upper Klamath Lake by building a three-mile wide by seven- to eight-mile long dike along Upper Klamath’s west side. Under his plan, a 50-foot wide dike rising 40-feet higher than the lake would be built from Wocus Bay north to Bare Island. Excess lake water that otherwise flows down the Link River to the Klamath River could be pumped into the inner lake, which he estimates could hold an extra 400,000 cubic-feet of water. “I got good reactions from the farmers. I didn’t get any reaction from anybody with clout,” Viets said. “I probably had at least 100 people say they like the idea. I’ve even had people call me.”