Federal Agency Decisions Continue to Impoverish Rural Communities - Joint Press Release

Despite the ongoing challenges, including water allocation conflicts and impacts on agriculture, waterfowl, and endangered fisheries, the Tri-Counties (Siskiyou County and Modoc County, California, and Klamath County, Oregon) continue to push for federal action to protect our region's livelihoods and natural resources. This year's favorable hydrology and snowpack presented a unique opportunity to meet the needs of all stakeholders, but federal inaction has put our progress at risk.

Our joint efforts emphasize the need for sustainable solutions that balance the demands of farmers, ranchers, and wildlife. The attached press release highlights our latest call to action and the urgency of securing additional water allocations to support our communities.

Read the full Press Release below. 

JOINT PRESS RELEASESISKIYOU COUNTY, CA, MODOC COUNTY, CA and KLAMATH COUNTY, OR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Federal Agency Decisions Continue to Impoverish Rural Communities
 

KLAMATH COUNTY, OR and SISKIYOU AND MODOC COUNTIES, CA (Tri-Counties) - The extraordinarily unique Klamath Watershed is in peril. Conflict and competition over water are dire, but completely unnecessary. Division amongst and within the Watershed is at an all-time high. Agricultural communities are drying up fast, wildlife is suffering, and endangered fish populations are not improving. Unfortunately, this same old song and dance that has plagued the Watershed for decades has become disturbingly redundant.

Several years ago, the counties of Klamath, Oregon, and Siskiyou and Modoc, California, came together to address these issues and bring resolution to the entire Watershed. Despite countless meetings, conversations, tours, and dozens of letters urging federal agencies to act, the needle has, simply put, not moved.

This year, there was every opportunity to meet all needs in the Basin; endangered fish in Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Project, and refuges, which are critical to the Pacific Flyway. Earlier this year, favorable hydrology and snowpack provided for a promising water year, and Upper Klamath Lake is projected to end the year 80,000 acre-feet above the Endangered Species Act requirements. Yet, inaction, or misguided action, by federal agencies is squandering another good opportunity.

This year, Klamath Project irrigators were allocated 260,000 acre-feet, far less than what is needed for a full Project supply, leaving many areas dry for the fifth consecutive year. For the land that is in production, it is expected that this allocation will be fully utilized by early September, which will prevent bringing crops to harvest. Project irrigators have requested an additional 20,000 acre-feet to finish out the season. For context, that equates to four inches of Upper Klamath Lake Surface area. An additional 20,000 acre-feet for irrigation will cause NO harm to endangered fish, but it will ensure the viability of family farms in Klamath, Siskiyou and Modoc Counties. Yet, there has been no action from the Department of the Interior to secure this additional allocation. Where have things gone so wrong?

As we stare down the barrel of finishing another irrigation season with an inadequate supply, we can't help but feel ‘déjà vu’ from a similar experience decades ago. It was 1994 when the Northern Spotted Owl was listed as endangered. In response, the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management severely restricted timber harvest on federal lands in an effort to save the Spotted Owl. Thousands of timber-related jobs were lost, numerous timber harvest facilities shut down, and small rural towns were thrust into poverty, with people turning to drugs, alcohol, and crime. These communities have never been the same. And to what benefit? The Northern Spotted Owl was never meaningfully recovered, and as it turns out, timber harvesting was not the cause of their decline.

Fast forward to today. We are headed down the same dreaded path, but this time farming and ranching are in the crosshairs. A recent study from Oregon State University finds the economic benefit of irrigated agriculture in the Klamath Project to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, including supporting thousands of jobs. However, that same study finds that if the Bureau Reclamation only makes 225,000 acre-feet of water available from Upper Klamath Lake (similar to this year), it reduces agricultural income by approximately $34 million, and costs upwards of 650 jobs. Meanwhile, endangered suckers (two species of fish) in Upper Klamath Lake get older each year, without any sustainable recruitment of juveniles to secure their continuance, and salmon populations in the Klamath River aren’t enough to provide a full harvest for Native American Tribes.

The federal government must take meaningful action to sustain our communities into the long term. By misguided regulation, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management impoverished our rural communities. Now, the Departments of Interior and Commerce are following suit, keeping us poor. It’s time to change the paradigm.

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