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On April 14, the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), a federal agency that oversees the Klamath irrigation project, announced that farmers would only get 33,000 acre-feet of water this year due to drought conditions—the lowest allotment in its history.
In response, a local water authority called the Klamath Drainage District (KDD) illegally diverted water to local farmers, according to a sternly worded warning letter from USBR. This diversion “may subject KDD to legal action if it does not immediately cease diversions.”
Beyond the legal ramifications, diverting Upper Klamath Lake’s limited water supply has the potential to negatively impact local Tribal and commercial salmon fisheries that rely on a steady flow into the Klamath River.
“It felt very disappointing that individuals would...illegally divert water, when there is so much pain being felt throughout the basin for communities who aren’t getting...the water levels necessary for their communities,” said Frankie Myers, vice-chairman of the Yurok tribe.
For some, the diversions are reminiscent of a painful chapter in the region’s history. In 2001, USBR curtailed irrigation to farms to prioritize the survival of endangered fish in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.
Farmers responded by physically forcing open irrigation gates and even staging a symbolic “bucket brigade,” in which residents manually diverted water from the river via buckets passed from person to person along a human chain. https://www.heraldandnews.com/bucket-brigade/image_21e38828-de96-11e2-8662-001a4bcf887a.html
Growing resentment from farmers has caused some worry about potential violence this year. The far-right militia group “People’s Rights,” founded by Ammon Bundy, announced a call to farmers and ranchers in the basin to “STAND UP AND PROTECT YOUR PRIVATE PROPERTY, YOUR WATER!”
Not only does the water shortage pit agricultural interests against the needs of communities downriver—the scarcity also puts the survival of different endangered species in conflict with one another.
The Klamath Tribes—a separate tribal nation from the Yurok—filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation, claiming the agency is missing minimum water thresholds required by the Endangered Species Act for two years in a row.
This, in turn, puts two spiritually important suckerfish species, the C’waam and Koptu, at risk of extinction. https://www.klamathfallsnews.org/news/historically-bad-water-year-requires-urgent-protections-for-cwaam-and-koptu-highlights-needed-for-more-sustainable-path-forward
This year’s water crisis may spur some dialogue on what sustainable farming in the region should look like, long-term. Last Wed., the White House announced that it would create an interagency task force to “explore opportunities to improve our nation’s resilience to droughts.”
Until then, the ongoing crisis may continue to raise tensions in the region, and even lead some to obtain limited water resources by any means necessary.
Read more: https://thecounter.org/oregon-farms-water-klamath-river-drought-salmon/
Read more: https://thecounter.org/oregon-farms-water-klamath-river-drought-salmon/
