Smith, Wyden move to help Klamath Basin farmers

Posted by cpope October 02, 2007

With fallout from the bitter 2001 battle over water in the Klamath Basin lingering on Capitol Hill, Sen. Gordon Smith Tuesday urged that the basin be designated a national priority watershed.

Smith made the request in a letter co-signed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to the Senate Agriculture Committee. That panel is working on renewing the sprawling farm bill that determines which watershed earn priority status. If granted, it would maintain the status that the Klamath received in 2002.

"There is nothing more important than water for those who make their living from the land," Smith said in a statement. "If the water dries up, so does a farmer's livelihood. We need to continue the stewardship by the Klamath Basin farmers, and keep agricultural lands in production."

National priority status triggers federal programs to preserve wetlands and other conservation programs.

According to Smith's office, ``Since 2002, 54,503 acres of irrigation systems have been improved saving water consumption by 30% per year. In addition to irrigation systems and wetland improvement, 2,800 acres of fish and wildlife habitat have been preserved.''

That is not the memory most people have of the Klamath Basin , however.

In 2001, the Bureau of Reclamation cut off irrigation water to Klamath-area farmers after scientists for the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service determined that the water was needed to prevent a massive fish kill.

The move devastated farms and Smith, along with Rep. Greg Walden and the White House moved to overturn the decision.

The National Research Council reviewed the scientific determinations and, in 2002, the Bureau of Reclamation used the new review to justify giving farmers more water.

Environmentalists and fishermen said the decision was made for political, rather than scientific reasons. They also said the led to the death of 70,000 salmon.

-- Charles Pope

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Source:  http://blog.oregonlive.com/politics/2007/10/smith_wyden_move_to_help_klama.html