Dave Solem: The A Canal

By TY BEAVER

H&N Staff Writer

March 14, 2008

Klamath Irrigation District director Dave Solem has worked to upgrade infrastructure.

   Dave Solem didn’t intend to become entrenched in Klamath Basin water issues. 

   After earning a degree in forestry, the native Iowan moved to the Basin in 1980 to work for the U.S. Forest Service in what was then the Winema National Forest . Two years later, a job opened up in the Klamath Irrigation District. 

   The district, along with others, was beginning to map its territory as part of the continuing water adjudication process. Solem leapt at the opportunity of filling their assistant engineer position because of the work and data he’d work with. “It was just a pretty good opportunity to work with aerial photos on a large scale,” he says. 

   A year later, director Malcolm Crawford took a job with an irrigation district in Idaho , and the local district’s board of directors gave Solem a shot. 

   Solem says the district was in bad shape when he moved into the manager’s office. Infrastructure — from equipment to the concrete used in canals and ditches — was falling apart. 

   The effort to bring the district up to standards required him to produce a presentation and replacement program that meant raising the district’s assessment fees from $10 to $14 an acre per year. 

   The results included improvements to the A Canal tunnel beneath Klamath Falls and the flume that crosses the Olene Gap. A replacement program for district vehicles was implemented and financial reserves established. “There was just a lot of things that had to be brought up to snuff,” he says. 

   There were distressing events and changes as well. The 2001 water crisis brought its own nightmares, he says, and the district had to adapt to the listing of the sucker as a threatened and endangered species and the issuing of biological opinions.

Side Bar

Dave Solem on the agreement:

   What he likes: The agreement may make less water available for irrigation, but that water supply would be somewhat reliable, and that’s important to an irrigation district manager. 

   Also, while the power components might not be the most favorable for irrigation, assessment rates could be stabilized (irrigation districts have to pay power costs for operating some pumps). 

   Solem says it also could prevent a return to less advanced irrigation techniques, such as flood irrigation. The Klamath Irrigation District developed away from large-scale use of that method; reversion could cause problems. 

   What he dislikes: Dam removal. Solem says he knew there would be portions of the agreement that would be controversial, and removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River is one of the bigger ones. 

   Dam removal is difficult for irrigators to support because many dams support irrigation activity with water storage. The Klamath dams slated for removal do not, but he fears the action could set a precedent that would affect irrigation in the future. 

   “We are not condoning taking dams out around the country,” he says.

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