Water wars

The hullabaloo over water-rights has heated up, with some Siskiyou County farmers promising to not participate in a planned watershed-wide state permitting program.

The California Department of Fish and Game has been preparing the permits for streambed changes and incidental takings of threatened coho salmon along the Scott and Shasta rivers, which are key tributaries to the Klamath River.

But some local farmers have expressed concern that the voluntary program may open the door to more strict state controls over adjudicated water rights, and that the stronger restrictions could eventually be implemented statewide. Organic beef producer Craig Chenoweth, who has about 40 cows and calves on 456 acres in Scott Valley, told the Capital Ag Press that he and other farmers plan to withhold their participation to coax Fish and Game officials to come to the table and address their concerns. "The whole idea is that we have to question their authority to do this," Chenoweth told the Capital Ag Press. "They don't have the authority. They just call it a voluntary program, but at that point you're just voluntarily giving up your rights."

But others argue the watershed-wide permit is meant to offer a cheaper and easier way of obtaining the license. The more people who sign up, the more there will be to share the cost of administering the project, including paperwork, monitoring and restoration efforts, officials have said.