Kulongoski tours Klamath farms hit by drought

By Amy Sienicki

KDRV, Medford, Oregon
 
June 10, 2010
 
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski was in the Klamath Basin Thursday to get a firsthand look at how farmers are dealing with drought conditions.
 
In March, Kulongoski issued a state drought declaration for Klamath and surrounding counties. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a natural disaster declaration for the area as well. Since the declaration, over $17 million in federal drought aid has been approved for the Klamath Basin. The money is going to pump water from emergency wells and pay farmers in the Upper Klamath Basin's federal irrigation project to let their lands go fallow.
 
The drought conditions mean farmers in the Klamath Reclamation Project are only receiving about one-third of normal water supplies this summer due to both the drought and demands for protected fish.
 
"We have had some funding from the federal government to help pay people to do that. Essentially you're asking them to sit this year out, if they could do that with their crop. And they're getting, frankly, a pretty small amount to do that," said Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association.
 
Addington says only farmers on 18,000 acres of land are getting federal funding. He says an additional 30,000 acres is not being watered or getting funding. He says those are the users they are focusing on now.