By SARA HOTTMAN

H&N Staff Reporter

October 17, 2010

   The issue: Why should residents in the city and suburbs care about the KBRA?

     Agriculture is a $1 billion industry in Southern Oregon and Northern California, second only to wood products.

   “That’s why everyone jumps up and down whenever there are policy decisions that could impede those industries, because that’s everything here,” said Willie Riggs, an agricultural economist and director of the OSU Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center.

   Crop, livestock and dairy sales directly contribute around $300 million to the Klamath County economy every year. Each dollar made by agriculture cycles through the local economy about twice — a $600 million indirect contribution annually.

   Essentially, Riggs said, that means when agriculture prospers, other industries that comprise the local economy also prosper. Restaurants, retail, services, even government depend on agricultural dollars.  

   ‘People’s livelihoods’

   “People have got to understand why these (Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement) discussions are going on,” Riggs said. “We’re talking about people’s livelihoods on both sides.

   “We want to produce milk and cheese in Klamath County. We want to produce wheat,

grains and potatoes. That’s what folks on both sides want to do, is produce those products.”

   The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement seeks to stabilize water for irrigators and other stakeholders, which proponents say will help grow the agriculture industry, and as a result benefit the overall Basin economy. But opponents question how conditions in the KBRA could increase revenue for farmers.

   “In the KBRA, each year there will be a certain amount of land set aside that’s not farmed,”  said Kenny Schell, a farmer and rancher on the Klamath Reclamation Project. “If there’s less acres to farm, that lowers your income. You’re making less money. … You can’t afford to buy equipment, you don’t keep up the services on equipment like maybe you should. You cut corners the best you can to get by.”

   The Klamath Water Users Association, which represents on-Project irrigators, and other KBRA supporters in the summer started an information campaign with a simple message: “KBRA = JOBS.”

   Supporters say the agreement’s conservation and environmental rehabilitation measures will benefit not only irrigators, but also wildlife, restoring habitats and improving water quality. That in turn will attract tourism, recreation and energy jobs to the area, they say. Additionally, stakeholders will spend less money on legal battles over water rights, they say.

   “The KBRA is about maintaining a way of life,” a “KBRA = JOBS” flyer reads. “The stability it brings will ensure that family farms and ranches continue to be a major contributor to our local economy for generations to come.”

   But Schell said he doesn’t see job creation in the KBRA.

   “The less ground you have, the (fewer) people you need to work,” he said. “(Seasonal) laborers and the high school kids who irrigate and run tractor … there will be less of them needed the more land that’s set aside.”