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Scott
Seus: Power assurances will help agriculture
By
TY BEAVER
H&N
Staff Writer
 |
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Scott Seus with his mint crop in Tulelake. He also grows wheat, onions, horseradish and hay. |
Scott Seus is no stranger to
The third-generation farmer’s family homesteaded in
the area in the late 1940s. Seus says he’s farmed for all 34 years of
his life and has run Seus Family Farms for two years, supporting his
wife and son.
You can’t just be a farmer anymore, he says. You
also have to be a salesman, politician and businessman.
Changing
operation
The operation has evolved. He currently grows mint for
oil, wheat, onions, horseradish and hay. In 2000, he acquired the use of
1,000 contiguous acres of lease land on the Tule Lake National Wildlife
Refuge.
Seus says he’s dedicated a lot of time and money
into his lease of the refuge land. He paid to have the land
laser-leveled to make it more efficient and affordable to irrigate.
He’s also worked for an organic certification,
allowing him to automatically renew his lease through 2010.
He’s done his share of legal and administrative work
as well. He’s been chairman of the Klamath Water Users Association
power committee for three years, dealing with the aspects of
re-licensing PacifiCorp’s hydroelectric dams and the rates the company
charges irrigators for power.
Power needs
Power is a big factor in his livelihood, as it is for
most irrigators. The farmlands he owns and leases are at the bottom of
the Klamath Reclamation Project.
Water must be pumped through a mountain before it can
reach his crops, and that activity requires a lot of power. That’s
just one reason why a stable and affordable rate is a valuable
commodity.
“I’m focused on what it does for us,” Seus says
of the agreement.
Side Bar
Scott Seus on the agreement:
What
he likes: It provides water assurances. Seus said he is willing to see
irrigation water supplies capped below previous amounts because it’s
worth the stability and security gained.
He
likes the power assurances, too.
Power
rates won’t be as low as they were under a previous agreement with
PacifiCorp, but, again, stability is important for local irrigated
agriculture to adapt and move forward.
“It
gives us something to build on,” he says.
What he dislikes: He
isn’t a fan of throwing in the towel on water claims. In order to
fulfill the settlement agreement, on-Project water users and the Klamath
Tribes would give up their challenges to each other’s water claims.
“You’re
giving up your argument,” he says.
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