Water Lessons

High school students studying Klamath River watershed

By STEVE KADEL
H&N Staff Writer

December 6, 2008

Students from Klamath Union and EagleRidge high schools visit the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery as part of a study of Klamath River water allocation issues.

Hundreds of high school students are learning what many adults already know: there are no simple answers when it comes to allocating Klamath River water.

The students are completing a four-week study of the river and the many stakeholder groups competing for a scarce supply of water. The project, organized by the nonprofit group Educational Solutions of Klamath Falls, involved 320 biology students from Chiloquin High School to Del Norte High School in Crescent City, Calif.

The endeavor is called “Sharing the Klamath River Watershed: Bringing Together the Next Generation of Stakeholders.” Other Southern Oregon schools taking part were Henley, Klamath Union, EagleRidge and Lost River high schools.

Participants have visited Iron Gate Dam and the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery as well as the Walking Wetlands project on the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. In addition, they’ve heard from a host of government representatives, a spokesman for the commercial salmon fishing industry, and tribal officials.

Seeking solutions

They worked in small groups to finish projects outlining possible solutions.

When it came time for results to be presented, many of the students found that answers aren’t black and white. Traci Baumgardner, biology teacher at Lost River High School, said some students were frustrated by the lack of a single best course of action.

“Many of them focused on water conservation by agriculturists,” Baumgardner said. “A few students talked about the pros and cons of deep water storage off-stream, specifically the idea of Long Lake. I had several students who presented a wide range of possible solutions.”

No one in her class touted dam removal as the only solution, she said.

Despite the varied results, Baumgardner said the in-depth study taught the students a lot.

“I think it has been eye-opening,” she said.

Many issues

Klamath Union High School teacher Damon Wolf agreed the project exposed students to many issues they hadn’t known about.

“They had a good time taking sides of an issue and debating,” he said. “They definitely had no idea that this was at such a critical spot.”

One of his student groups advocated dam removal. Others favored improving the river’s water quality by keeping cattle away. Still others liked the idea of tagging salmon so fishermen would know which are from weak or healthy stock.

“They definitely realize there’s not one solution,” Wolf said.

That’s the same conclusion Henley High School students came to, said biology teacher Chuck Shannon.

“Most of our solutions had to do with dam removal or installation of (fish) ladders,” he said. “Then there were kids who wanted to find ways to be more efficient with irrigation.”

Diverse perspectives

Shannon said some students from agriculture backgrounds initially viewed the topic as farmers versus fish. But they came to understand there are several stakeholder groups with their own set of needs — a realization that helped them broaden their horizons.

“The conflict resolution format diffuses things,” Shannon said. “We talked about that. I think it helped them think about it from another perspective. They all learned things from it.”

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