The
Klamath Water Crisis: 5 years later
By
TY BEAVER and STEVE KADEL
H&N
Staff Writers
July
4, 2006
The sound of metal being cut by a chainsaw and torch rang out in Klamath Falls
five years ago today.
Klamath Basin farmers linked arms and opened the head gates of the A Canal to
allow water to flow from Upper Klamath Lake.
It was the third and most organized attempt to provide Klamath Basin farmers
with irrigation water in a crisis pitting farmers against a government seeking
to protect endangered and threatened fish.
“It was a very emotional time for people on all sides of the issue,” said
Klamath County sheriff Tim Evinger.
Momentum had been building for weeks. It was the driest year on record for
Klamath Falls since 1924. In early May 2001, farmers organized a bucket
brigade that took water from Lake Ewauna to the A Canal to demonstrate the
need for irrigation water.
The brigade attracted national attention and media coverage, including spots
on CNN and Fox News. In June 2001, pay raises for Klamath County officials
were scratched to help local farmers hurt by the water crisis, and more than
1,500 people attended hearings held by the House Committee on Resources.
The gates were first opened illegally July 1, 2001. Officials with the Bureau
of Reclamation did not close them until the next day, but warned that no one
was to use any of the water released. But the gates were opened again on July
3, prompting a quicker response from Bureau of Reclamation officials who used
welds to further secure them.
Those welds lasted only several minutes against the torch used by Klamath
Basin farmers five years ago, and a crowd of about 100 people formed a human
shield to block them from view. Local law enforcement monitored
the situation from their vehicles to ensure no one was injured, but they did
not stop the protesters.
Evinger said he spent a great deal of that summer watching the situation, to
ensure public safety.
The federal government told him and other local law enforcement officials not
to interfere until later in the year, he said. By that point, federal
officials had made so many poor decisions, Evinger said he refused to do
anything but keep citizens safe.
Protesters consulted with Evinger with their planned activities, and he would
tell them what would be over the line and result in arrest. Not once did they
cross the line, he said.
“It was sort of like officiating a game,” the sheriff said.
Water isn’t in such short supply this year. Precipitation is nearly two
inches above average for the period since Jan. 1. But that doesn’t mean the
Basin couldn’t see the same problem again.
Federal mandates to maintain lake levels for endangered suckers and Klamath
River flows for threatened
coho are still in place,
said Greg Addington, president of the Klamath Water
Users Association.
He said
it’s time to reconsider the biological opinions in
light of more recent scientific findings.
“It shouldn’t
be fish versus
farmers. We can have both
if we’re flexible,” Addington said.
