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April 6,
2010
They
were among about two dozen people
congregated at Merrill City Hall Thursday to
attend a prayer meeting organized by Calvary
Fellowship Lower Klamath in response to the
water shortage in the Klamath Basin.
Attendees voiced their feelings and fears
throughout the meeting, from anger at
government officials for allowing such
hardship to impact the region, to anxiety of
the prospect of watching their neighbors
suffer.
But
there also was hope and relief, and several
of those who attended said the event helped
them process their emotions and prepare to
move forward in the coming months.
“Keep on
being grateful for what we have,” said Bryce
Rutledge, who has 80 acres off I.O.O.F.
Cemetery Road below Stukel Mountain.
With
Upper Klamath Lake at historic lows and
precipitation and inflow to the lake below
normal levels, the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation has said it would provide only
150,000 acre-feet of water from the lake to
irrigators on the Klamath Reclamation
Project. That amount of water would only be
about a third of what is typically delivered
to the Project annually.
Pastor
Gordon Aguiar said his church organized the
prayer meeting to give those impacted by the
water shortage an opportunity to voice their
feeling, and find comfort and solace from
their neighbors.
“It’s a good time to reach out to others,”
said Sid Staunton, a potato farmer from
Tulelake.
Concerns
The meeting included Bible readings,
hymn singing and prayer in small groups.
Along with talking about how they were
connected to the water shortage, those
attending brought up a number of
concerns. Tom Silbernagel and his wife
have acreage in the Shasta View
Irrigation District. He said they will
be fine because they have a well that
can provide the water they need, but
they’ll still have to watch their
neighbors go without this year.
“I’ve
told my wife that sometimes the well seems
like a curse,” he said.
Those
attending said the biggest benefit was to
talk about what is on their minds and
realize that they need to place some faith
in God’s hands to work the situation out.
Side Bars
Drought
initiative deadline extended
The deadline to sign up
for the Environmental Quality Incentives
Program Klamath Drought Initiative has
been extended.
The
last day to sign up is April 23, and the
last day to plant is April 30, said
district conservationist Evelyn Conrad.
Conrad urges any producer considering
signing up for the program to do so now.
The
program is built on the assumption there
will be no irrigation deliveries this
year, Conrad said, and should water
become available that will support a
higher value
There are 57 applications covering about
5,700 acres pending in Klamath County,
Conrad said.
The
program provides approximately $80 an
acre to plant crops. There is $1 million
in funding for Oregon and $1 million for
California farmers.
For more information,
contact the Klamath County U.S.
Department of Agriculture service center
at 541-883-6932 ext. 118, or Tulelake
service center at 530-667-4247 ext. 109.
Update from lawmakers
Legislature update: Oregon’s
U.S. senators asked for a drought
declaration for the Klamath Basin on March
26. Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley
sent a request to the U.S. secretaries of
interior and agriculture seeking the federal
drought declaration.
The
declaration would open up a variety of
potential aid resources to the area,
including
Oregon
Gov. Ted Kulongoski issued a state drought
declaration for Klamath and its neighboring
counties after visiting Klamath Falls last
month. The action provides some forms of aid
and speeds up the process for emergency
groundwater permitting.
No-till drills available to
rent
The
Klamath Soil and Water Conservation District
has two no-till drills available for rent.
The equipment can be used on soil that has
stubble from last year’s crop and for cover
The drill rents for $12 an acre with a $100
delivery charge and minimum overall fee of
$150.
For more information call 541-883-6932 ext.
117.
Snow’s effect yet to
be realized
Snowpack and precipitation levels got
another boost from snow falling on Sunday,
but any sign if ica nt improvement to water
levels in Upper Klamath Lake have not been
seen yet.
The region’s snowpack was 81 percent of
average as of Monday according to the
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Total precipitation since Oct. 1 also was up
slightly, from 74 percent of average on
Saturday to 75 percent of average.
Kevin Moore, spokesman for U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation’s area office, said how those
figures will impact water resources is
unknown. Future weather will determine how
much will be lost to groundwater and other
factors.
And the lake isn’t filling any faster. The
Williamson River inflows are still down
significantly,
“This number will have to experience a large
prolonged increase to overcome the current
deficit in the lake level,” Moore said. “All
precipitation is helpful, but any possible
benefits will not be evident until later in
the year.”
Prayer meeting a chance to reflect
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