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March 10, 2010
Greg Addington, executive director, Klamath Water Users Association
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But the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, though signed, hasn’t been funded or implemented yet, and irrigators and other stakeholders are stuck with the old rules, he said.
Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, told Gov. Ted Kulongoski Tuesday that a drought declaration is what is most needed from the state. The governor’s office also could help the region by promoting regulatory flexibility, which would allow as much groundwater into the Klamath Reclamation Project as possible.
Surface water is the No. 1 priority of the Project, Addington said, though unused federal stimulus funds and other financial aid also could help Basin farmers who grow crops on thousands of acres.
Provisions of the restoration agreement also
should be on a fast track to implementation,
Addington said. A farmer supportive of the
agreement told Addington that if the
document is good for him in the coming
“In my opinion, we can’t afford to wait for
congressional action,” he said.
Rob Unruh, Malin-area farmer
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Unruh was among those who testified Tuesday during a public meeting with Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
He and his family operate a 500-acre
farm where they raise potatoes, wheat
and alfalfa.
Unruh said the 2001 Klamath Basin water crisis dramatically affected the Malin community, resulting in the closure of the town’s only gas station and auto repair shop. The hardware store reported $150,000 in lost sales, a restaurant suffered and eventually closed, and its owner later committed suicide.
He noted that before 2001, the Klamath
Basin had 30,000 acres in potatoes. Now,
it has 11,000. The number of potato
packing sheds dropped from 23 to nine.
Of those, three are in Malin. He said a
water shutoff could result in the
closure of Malin Elementary School and
the post office, and create other
problems.
“It’s impossible to describe 2001 … the immediate loss of farm income. Farmers going broke, forced to retire. Farm jobs lost. Homes, farms and ranches gone. Dust blowing, then the weeds growing,” Unruh said. “If there are no water deliveries, I guess for lack of a better term we need a local stimulus package or a government bailout.”
He estimated the bailout would need to
be as high as $1,000 per acre.
Jeff Mitchell, Council member, Klamath Tribes
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“If this tells you
anything, it’s that we don’t have
time to waste,” Mitchell said of the
need to protect endangered fish and
provide water for Klamath
Reclamation Project water users.
“It’s a very serious time for our
community … We need leadership,
governor.”
He emphasized the agreement, which has been signed by stakeholders but not funded by Congress, “only works if the people survive.”
He said past disputes have created friction between the Upper and Lower Klamath River basins, noting, “We’re tired of being pushed apart. We know that option doesn’t work.”
The Klamath Tribes’ annual Return of the C’waan (Lost River sucker) ceremony, which celebrates the return of the fish swimming up the Sprague River to spawn, is next week.
“We’re going to pray over
those fish,” Mitchell said.
Bob Gasser, co-owner of Basin Fertilizer
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Gasser told Oregon
Gov. Ted Kulongoski Tuesday that
what the Basin needs is water,
not handouts, adding that the
Basin’s residents would “much
rather pay taxes to the state
than receive welfare.”
Those same things — cut hours, lost sales — are occurring today as news of an expected water shortage shakes the Basin agricultural community.
Gasser and his business partner recently built a new storage facility, and sales have to come through in order to pay off the debt that went toward it. Without business, other aspects have to give.
“I just canceled a
tractor order for Donnie, and
I’ll likely have to cancel
more,” he said, referring to
Donnie Boyd, owner of Floyd A.
Boyd Co.
The drought facing the region isn’t all the work of Mother Nature, he said, but the result of mismanagement of Upper Klamath Lake by government agencies.
“No one can convince me it’s fair to not send water to the Project when the snow pack is at 70 percent,” he said.
Gasser told the governor that his business survived the 2001 water crisis, but not unscathed. He lost 75 percent of his sales, and as a result didn’t buy any new equipment, hurting other businesses. He had 32 employees, half who had worked for the business for 20 years or more. None were laid off, but their wages were cut in half.
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