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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Farmers, fishermen discuss differences over Klamath dams
Farmers need irrigation water for their crops, and
hydroelectric power to pump the water to their fields.
Salmon fishermen want fish populations to rebound, so they can once
again pursue their livelihood after a disastrous shutdown last year.
Both sides are focused on the Klamath River and its water, but from
diametrically opposing viewpoints. The farmers want four dams owned by
PacifiCorp to remain; the fishermen want them gone.
Representatives from both
sides - about 50 fishermen, farmers, state and local government
officials, and others - gathered in the conference room at Englund
Marine in Newport Jan. 27 to discuss Klamath water issues and try to
find common ground. Lurking in the background was the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission's review of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project
and PacifiCorp's re-licensing request for Iron Gate, J.C. Boyle, Copco
1, and Copco 2 on a section of the Klamath River that straddles the
Oregon-California border. Located mainly in Klamath County, Ore., and
Siskiyou County, Calif., the existing project covers 219 acres of land
administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Reclamation.
"This is a meeting of people who depend on the Klamath River - fishers, farmers, and tribes," said Jeff Feldner, a Newport fisherman and Oregon Sea Grant Extension agent with Oregon State University's Lincoln County Cooperative Extension Office, who served as moderator for the gathering. "These issues are not simple. They're extremely complex and contentious. We're here to learn and we're here listen."
Most of what they heard from Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, which represents the farmers and ranchers who rely on irrigation from the river; agronomist Ken Rykbost, who discussed Klamath Basin hydrology; Pete Lawson, who talked about the management implications of Klamath salmon status; and Newport fisherman Mike Becker, who focused on the economic impact of Klamath restrictions on West Coast fisheries was familiar.
Problems with the Klamath salmon runs - which fishermen blame on the presence of the dams - has cost Oregon's coastal counties $15 million in 2005 and $30 million in 2006. Farmers also point to crops and livestock devastated by withdrawal restrictions from the river due to endangered suckers in the Upper Klamath Lake and salmon imperiled by low water flow and other factors. Fishermen want the dams - which they say provide little power, no flood control, miniscule water storage, serve very little irrigation purpose, block passage of salmon along hundreds of miles of former salmon habitat, create a hostile environment for the fish, and negatively impact ocean fisheries and downstream fishing communities - removed, or changes made to allow "full fish passage." Farmers insist their livelihoods depend on the dams, which are a vital part of the extensive irrigation project system.
While the two positions seem intractable, a glimmer of hope for some sort of cooperative look at the situation emerged from two suggestions.
Fish biologist Richard Stocking, who is doing post-graduate research at OSU, is studying factors that influence the effects of a parasite that flourishes under certain conditions and can decimate the fish population, both juveniles and adults.
Fishermen blamed higher water temperatures caused by irrigation drawdowns, water pools held behind the dams, and high nutrient loads from farming activities for the proliferation of the parasite.
But Stocking's research revealed another potential cause - slow water flow, which allows the parasite to develop in sluggish reservoirs at various locations along the river. Periodic flushing of those sites could possibly disturb the parasitic life cycle, preventing them from reaching lethal levels.
Stocking said the parasite "prefers stable areas, where there's not much flow.
"The Klamath river has always been a high-nutrient system," he added, noting the reservoirs where the river is sluggish are the real culprits - not farming practices. Those sites serve as "big cookpots" where the distribution and concentration of organic matter allows the parasites to thrive.
"There's no quick fix," Stocking concluded. "We're working toward a long-term solution."
Lincoln County Commissioner Terry Thompson suggested the fishermen need "an interim" remedy that will allow the salmon industry to right itself while waiting for those long-term corrections. Still, Stocking's findings put a new face on a persistent old problem.
Rick Goche, a Coos Bay fisherman, provided the other possibility for a reconciliation of sorts between the two groups. He proposed the formation of a Common Ground Alliance between farmers and fishers, its mission "to advocate fro practical solutions to common problems facing natural resource businesses that seek to ensure perpetual access to and health of those natural resources for all generations."
Goche said open dialogue between natural resource dependent businesses like farming and fishing "is essential to the future of those businesses." He conceived the alliance as a forum to discuss issues common to its members and industries, based on "solution-based dialogue and application of common sense peer-reviewed science for the benefit of the natural resources upon which we depend."
Membership could encompass commercial and maybe recreational fishing, farming and ranching, tribal interests, the timber and forest industry, and mining. A unanimous consent of a board of directors would determine goals for the alliance. Goche suggested initial goals should be "to advocate for effective common-sense solutions to natural resource allocation conflicts in the Klamath Basin," and "advocate for practical controls on salmon predation."
Board members would also have the authority to select representatives from conservation-specific groups and/or public at-large positions as advisors to the board on an on-going or project-specific basis.
While nothing concrete was decided as to the formation of such an alliance, participants in the Jan. 27 discussion opened the dialogue that could lead to it.
Terry Dillman is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at (541) 265-8571, ext. 225 or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
"This is a meeting of people who depend on the Klamath River - fishers, farmers, and tribes," said Jeff Feldner, a Newport fisherman and Oregon Sea Grant Extension agent with Oregon State University's Lincoln County Cooperative Extension Office, who served as moderator for the gathering. "These issues are not simple. They're extremely complex and contentious. We're here to learn and we're here listen."
Most of what they heard from Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, which represents the farmers and ranchers who rely on irrigation from the river; agronomist Ken Rykbost, who discussed Klamath Basin hydrology; Pete Lawson, who talked about the management implications of Klamath salmon status; and Newport fisherman Mike Becker, who focused on the economic impact of Klamath restrictions on West Coast fisheries was familiar.
Problems with the Klamath salmon runs - which fishermen blame on the presence of the dams - has cost Oregon's coastal counties $15 million in 2005 and $30 million in 2006. Farmers also point to crops and livestock devastated by withdrawal restrictions from the river due to endangered suckers in the Upper Klamath Lake and salmon imperiled by low water flow and other factors. Fishermen want the dams - which they say provide little power, no flood control, miniscule water storage, serve very little irrigation purpose, block passage of salmon along hundreds of miles of former salmon habitat, create a hostile environment for the fish, and negatively impact ocean fisheries and downstream fishing communities - removed, or changes made to allow "full fish passage." Farmers insist their livelihoods depend on the dams, which are a vital part of the extensive irrigation project system.
While the two positions seem intractable, a glimmer of hope for some sort of cooperative look at the situation emerged from two suggestions.
Fish biologist Richard Stocking, who is doing post-graduate research at OSU, is studying factors that influence the effects of a parasite that flourishes under certain conditions and can decimate the fish population, both juveniles and adults.
Fishermen blamed higher water temperatures caused by irrigation drawdowns, water pools held behind the dams, and high nutrient loads from farming activities for the proliferation of the parasite.
But Stocking's research revealed another potential cause - slow water flow, which allows the parasite to develop in sluggish reservoirs at various locations along the river. Periodic flushing of those sites could possibly disturb the parasitic life cycle, preventing them from reaching lethal levels.
Stocking said the parasite "prefers stable areas, where there's not much flow.
"The Klamath river has always been a high-nutrient system," he added, noting the reservoirs where the river is sluggish are the real culprits - not farming practices. Those sites serve as "big cookpots" where the distribution and concentration of organic matter allows the parasites to thrive.
"There's no quick fix," Stocking concluded. "We're working toward a long-term solution."
Lincoln County Commissioner Terry Thompson suggested the fishermen need "an interim" remedy that will allow the salmon industry to right itself while waiting for those long-term corrections. Still, Stocking's findings put a new face on a persistent old problem.
Rick Goche, a Coos Bay fisherman, provided the other possibility for a reconciliation of sorts between the two groups. He proposed the formation of a Common Ground Alliance between farmers and fishers, its mission "to advocate fro practical solutions to common problems facing natural resource businesses that seek to ensure perpetual access to and health of those natural resources for all generations."
Goche said open dialogue between natural resource dependent businesses like farming and fishing "is essential to the future of those businesses." He conceived the alliance as a forum to discuss issues common to its members and industries, based on "solution-based dialogue and application of common sense peer-reviewed science for the benefit of the natural resources upon which we depend."
Membership could encompass commercial and maybe recreational fishing, farming and ranching, tribal interests, the timber and forest industry, and mining. A unanimous consent of a board of directors would determine goals for the alliance. Goche suggested initial goals should be "to advocate for effective common-sense solutions to natural resource allocation conflicts in the Klamath Basin," and "advocate for practical controls on salmon predation."
Board members would also have the authority to select representatives from conservation-specific groups and/or public at-large positions as advisors to the board on an on-going or project-specific basis.
While nothing concrete was decided as to the formation of such an alliance, participants in the Jan. 27 discussion opened the dialogue that could lead to it.
Terry Dillman is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at (541) 265-8571, ext. 225 or terrydillman@newportnewstimes.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml