KBRA limits water farmers will receive        

March 3, 2010

   The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement is bad for agriculture.

   One of many reasons is because it limits the amount of water farmers receive, which is less than farmers have historically received. At the same time, the KBRA increases the amount of water the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge gets, which is more than it has historically received.

   Klamath Watershed Basin property owners and all irrigators’ water rights are in jeopardy.

   Klamath Irrigation District does not know how many of the irrigators they represent are “for” or “against” the KBRA because they did not bother to take a poll or let their constituents vote. The district’s board decided to sign the KBRA agreement with a unanimous vote, regardless of the fact that most of the irrigators we know are against this agreement.  

   The Klamath Irrigation District requires landowners within their district to pay $5.50 per acre that goes directly to the Klamath Water Users Association, which is not representing the best interests of irrigators in Klamath County.

   The “diverse groups” that have worked on the KBRA are doing exactly what is needed to jeopardize our individual property rights, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

   By dividing the communities and individuals and pitting them against each other, as they already have, we then become easy targets that are divided and will be conquered. Then we will lose the water rights which are so vital to our land. Bigger bureaucracy is never the solution.

   The solution is that water adjudication should be finalized and issued to the property owners. Then farmers should demand of their government that their water be delivered as per the legal water rights.

   David and Marganne Oxley

   Klamath Falls