March 28, 2006
On my ride into the office this morning for one of the last times, I notice the fields covered with frost and filled with white front geese. The sky is a little overcast; there may be some snow later today.
It is spring. In only eight days, the formal irrigation season begins and the Klamath Irrigation Project will once again come to life as it has for 100 years. Water will flow and the 1,400 farming families on the project will be hard at work raising crops and trying to make a living. I have more certainty about their future than when I arrived four years ago.
My thoughts, which are usually consumed with the impending issues I'll have to confront during the work day, are more focused on the simple beauty of the area and the fine individuals of the Klamath Basin I'm going to so miss.
When you put your entire energies into an effort, whether it's a construction project or resolving a crisis situation, it becomes a piece of you and you become part of it. So has it been for me and the Klamath. I'm moving on, but will never truly leave the Basin.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to private citizens, the communities, the irrigation districts, the tribes, and the county and state governments for their support as we have sorted out the crisis that has enveloped the Klamath Basin.
In particular, I want to thank the Klamath Water Users Association and those folks who work so hard on behalf of agriculture: Greg Addington, Dan Keppen, Dave Solem, Steve Kandra, Bill Kennedy, Earl Danosky, Gary Wright, the Stauntons, the Crawfords, Frank Hammerick, and many, many others who have tried, as the Herald and News so aptly put, “to sort out the logic and science” in the hope of resolving the conundrum that the Basin has found itself in.
Though I'm moving on, there will remain certainty and consistency from the Bureau of Reclamation. We have been partners for 100 years, dedicated to the Project, and the folks who remain after I leave will always retain that dedication.
The efforts that Reclamation and the Water Users have undertaken, such as the Conservation Implementation Plan, will be carried forward by the individual who follows me as the Klamath Project manager.
The water bank for 2006 is almost complete; the required flows for this season to meet the Endangered Species Act requirements have been delineated; there should be no concerns about irrigation deliveries for this year.
Reclamation is finishing the necessary studies to reconsult with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Services, which I hope will resolve the uncertainty that has plagued this project for too long.
Attention to the issues surrounding the Klamath Basin will remain a focus of senior Department of the Interior and Reclamation management, including Mid Pacific Regional Director Kirk Rodgers, Reclamation Commissioner Joy Keys, and Assistant Secretary Mark Limbaugh.
As I drove into the office this morning, I remembered my first official day in the Klamath Basin. Jim Bryant, lands and water chief, was standing on the porch of the office looking at a painted figure outlined on the pavement outside the office as if there had been some horrible ambush in the parking lot.
You can imagine my feelings as I walked in and picked up the reins on what was to become a wonderful ride with all of you. Thank you for making it far better than I anticipated that first day.
Dave Sabo
Area Manager
Bureau of Reclamation
Editor's note: The painted figure referred to in the letter was the outline of what appeared to be a farmer along with the words, “Agriculture - Innocent victim.” The incident took place Feb. 11, 2002, a few days after a National Academy of Science committee said there was no scientific basis for the shutoff of water to irrigators on the Klamath Reclamation Project in 2001.