By TY BEAVER

H&N Staff Reporter

August 19, 2010

Solem

   That impression didn’t remain.

   “He had no experience in irrigation, but he learned very quickly,” said Danosky, manager of the Tulelake Irrigation District.

   Solem, manager of Klamath Irrigation District for 27 years, is leaving the Klamath Basin for a job with the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District in Washington. Though he’s kept a low profile, those who work with him said his levelheaded nature, technical mind and broad knowledge have been invaluable to the irrigation community   .

   “He’s going to be impossible to replace,” said Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association.

   Solem moved to the Basin in the early 1980s to work for the U.S. Forest Service in Chiloquin. He then worked for the Klamath Irrigation District for a year as an assistant engineer before he was awarded the manager position.

   “I think I low-balled the competition on the compensation,” Solem said,   laughing.

   At that time, the water adjudication process was just getting started, the region had yet to be hit by the listing of suckers and Coho salmon as endangered species, and the first of several dry irrigation seasons, most notably 2001, were still years in the future.

   Over the years, Solem’s duties increased.  

   Along with maintaining the district’s infrastructure, he’s been involved in the adjudication process, as well as the settlement process that yielded the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.

   Despite his role in Basin water issues, Solem credited others within the district for the work that’s been done.     

   “The manager isn’t necessarily the person who makes it work. It’s the employees,” he said.

   Addington says his first impression of Solem was one of straightforward seriousness.

   He met with Solem and another board member of the association when he was seeking his current job.

   “He’s a serious-looking guy when you don’t know him,” Addington said.

   Over the years, Addington said, he’s been amazed that, despite not having degrees in biology or hydrology, Solem was able to distill information from environmental impact statements, biological opinions and other documents and knew how they would impact the district.  

   Calm, but business-like

   Dan Keppen, executive director of Family Farm Alliance, worked with Solem in the wake of the 2001 water crisis, and he and Dave Cacka, chairman of KID’s board of directors, said they admired Solem’s calm yet business-like demeanor.

   Even federal lawmakers acknowledged Solem’s work. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., recently read a statement about the irrigation district manager during a session in Congress.

   “You can always rely on Dave to have the informed perspective and good judgment   to find solutions that make a difference,” Walden said.

   Solem’s new job is similar to his current one in many ways. He’ll manage an eastern Washington irrigation district that depends on a river and a reservoir behind a dam to provide irrigation water. The area also has issues with endangered fish.

   However, the eastern Washington district is tens of thousands of acres larger than Klamath, and the river that provides the water — the Columbia — has more water than the Klamath River.

   Solem said he’ll miss the friends and people he’s worked with over the years, but he’s excited for the opportunity to explore a new place.

   “I first went out on the Columbia River 25 years ago and got hooked on it then,” he said.