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Compromise urged as Klamath water flows
United Press International ^ | 3/29/2002 | Hil Anderson

Posted on 03/29/2002 6:23:13 PM PST by Walkin Man

Compromise urged as Klamath water flows

From the National Desk
Published 3/29/2002 6:03 PM

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore., March 29 (UPI) -- Two Cabinet secretaries and a U.S. Senator were on hand Friday to release water into the irrigation canals of the rural Klamath Basin, and President Bush also took time to mark what is usually a routine event.

The first trickle of water flowed through the headgates of the "A" Canal to begin charging up the system that supplies irrigation water to the thirsty farm fields in the arid region from April through September.

"This is an important step in ensuring farmers and ranchers in the region have adequate water supplies," said Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. "There is still a great deal of work to be done and this administration continues its commitment to help farmers and ranchers recover from losses suffered last year."

Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., joined Veneman on a dry, chilly Friday to mark what the Bush administration and the Klamath growers hope will be the end of a high-profile dispute over how scarce and highly coveted water supplies are divided up between agricultural interests in the drought-stricken area and endangered species of fish.

Irrigation supplies to about 1,000 Klamath farmers were shut off early last summer after federal regulators decided there was not enough water to supply to farmers while at the same time ensuring that stream flows would be adequate to protect three endangered species of sucker fish and salmon residing in the Klamath River and its tributaries.

Although the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the irrigation system, explained that its hands were tied by the specific legal requirements of the Endangered Species Act, residents of the area and critics nationwide saw the dispute as an example of farmers' livelihoods taking a bureaucratic back seat to a few fish.

Water rights granted to Native American tribes in the area make up another aspect of the quandary. The government acquired most of the Indian reservation land in the basin during the 1960s, but the tribes maintained water rights to ensure they would be able to continue hunting, fishing and trapping in the area.

In an attempt to strike a compromise, Bush appointed a high-profile committee to work out some kind of arrangement that would satisfy both sides of the issue. The Klamath Basin Federal Working Group includes Norton and Veneman as well as Secretary of Commerce Don Evans and James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

"Under the leadership of Secretary Norton, the Working Group is providing water to the farmers who depend on it for a living, while taking careful steps to protect and enhance the health of fish populations in the Klamath River Basin," Bush said in a statement issued by the White House Friday.

The Working Group determined that reports known as biological opinions being drafted by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service had concluded that there was enough water to go around, at least during the months of April and May.

Not everyone agrees. The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that some officials of the California Department of Fish and Game don't believe enough water will be left in the Klamath River, which flows through Northern California, to safeguard young coho salmon.

"This has been a really frustrating turnaround," Michael Rode, who coordinated the department's activities on the Klamath, lamented to the Times. "Those flows are just too low."

Rode said young salmon require a flow of at least 2,400 cubic feet of water per second as they make their way downstream toward the Pacific Ocean; federal scientists, he said, have said the fish can still make do with flows as low as 1,043 cubic feet in May.

By stark contrast, the initial flow of water into "A" Canal Friday was a modest 60 cubic feet per second with the rate to be gradually increased over about 10 days.

Although Klamath farmers were delighted with the resumption of irrigation, the administration stated that the problem remained.

"The times are still difficult for many in the region and much work remains to be done," the president said. "It is essential that the citizens of Oregon and California in the Klamath River Basin -- whether farmer, rancher, tribe member, fisherman or environmental activist -- embrace compromise and seek understanding."

(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles)


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: enviralists; environazis; greenterror; klamathbasincrisis; klamathfalls; klamathlist; ruralcleansing
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1 posted on 03/29/2002 6:23:13 PM PST by Walkin Man
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To: *Enviralists;*Klamath_list;KlamathBasinCrisis
Check the Bump List folders for articles related to and descriptions of the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.
2 posted on 03/29/2002 6:26:23 PM PST by Free the USA
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To: farmfriend;editor-surveyor
fyi
3 posted on 03/29/2002 6:28:22 PM PST by Free the USA
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To: Walkin Man
Ugh... From watching the Federal government work in the past, I've got a spooky feeling that "Compromise" is going to end up being spelled "Screw the farmers"...

Our tax dollars at work!

:/ ttt

4 posted on 03/29/2002 6:31:29 PM PST by detsaoT
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To: Walkin Man
WOW, that's a relief. As to the salmon, there are plenty of salmon, last year there was a bumper crop of them despite the lack of water. I'm glad there's finally someone in the WH who understands the games that are being played to deprive the farmers of their land.
5 posted on 03/29/2002 6:33:33 PM PST by McGavin999
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To: Free the USA
Oregon Farmers Cheer Headgate Opening
6 posted on 03/29/2002 6:35:57 PM PST by Free the USA
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To: detsaoT
I've got a spooky feeling that "Compromise" is going to end up being spelled "Screw the farmers"...

Thats highly possible, I'm sure! The farmers won this battle, now the green nazis will regroup and come up with some more junk science to back up their scams. Stay alert!

7 posted on 03/29/2002 6:45:12 PM PST by Walkin Man
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To: McGavin999
WOW, that's a relief.

Yes its good news for the farmers and has driven back the radical greenies a bit. Now if we can get oil drilling in ANWR the greens will really be hurting.

8 posted on 03/29/2002 6:50:14 PM PST by Walkin Man
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To: detsaoT
Read up on it just a tad...

This is a historic turn around and a slight rebound against the eco-freaks and their clintonista allies.

Rather than stand back and predict a governmental screwing - write someone and thank them for seeing the light, even if it's only a glimmer just now.

9 posted on 03/29/2002 6:51:52 PM PST by norton
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To: Free the USA
Thanks for the ping. Did you want a copy of the Klamath ping list. It is a list of people who requested to be on it. No one was added without request.
10 posted on 03/29/2002 7:07:04 PM PST by farmfriend
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To: Walkin Man
While it's a relief to know that the water will flow THIS YEAR, does anybody think the problem is actually solved now?

It made me sick to see Gayle Norton standing there grinning for the cameras as she helped turn the wheel to let the water flow and as Gordon Smith opined that a great wrong has been righted. Gayle Norton WAS the problem last year, and, she'll shut the water off again the very next time there's a low snowfall and/or the indians and enviro-nazis hire themselves another judge.

Has anything changed! Has the government done anything about SOLVING the problem?

11 posted on 03/29/2002 7:23:55 PM PST by Siegfried
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To: Walkin Man
Did not get to see any of our cabinet members or esteemed Senators. Did get to see our Patriot Barbara MArtin who fought her heart out to help this cause. Also listened to at least 50 Siberian Americans beating on their Tom Toms as the gates opened and holding up moronic protest signs.
12 posted on 03/29/2002 7:26:50 PM PST by Archie Bunker on steroids
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To: Walkin Man
Help me out here. Is there a dam at Klamath Falls to facilitate the diversion of this water and if that is true then doesn't it stand to reason that if the farmers can't have the water then shouldn't the dam be removed? And if the dam is removed how will that help the fish in late summer? And what about the other dams on the Klamath,ie Iron Gate. In the 1950s water would be released from one of these dams by day to generate electricity. This water would rush downstream and suddenly raise the level of the river. Three fishermen from Eureka drowned when they were caught broadside in their boat wearing waders.This happened between Skunkflat and Hopkins Creek. I later bought the Lodge they were staying at for my family and a few friends. After those deaths they put in a forebay at Iron Gate to control the surge.
13 posted on 03/29/2002 7:27:37 PM PST by tubebender
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To: farmfriend
The national green media screwed us on the coverage of the event. The only news feed from satellite showed the farmers behind the bars of the fence, like they were in jail.It did not show the lake which was full of water...to the top.Got part of Smiths speech where he was namby pamby in saying sorry for last year. Showed a real good picture of all the out of the area phoney 'Indian' protesters; and showed Norton shaking hands with Indians,no farmers. Only farmer they got on tape was calling Indians fish eaters and that if it was not for farmers they would starve.The liberal media played the race card and greens Indian traveling show obliged them.It is a shame the media is in the greenie pockets, because todays event was something special, and the media tried to ruin it.Ed Hubel.
14 posted on 03/29/2002 7:33:52 PM PST by hubel458
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To: tubebender
There is a dam at the outlet of the Lake, another 10 miles down stream at Keno, and another a few miles downstream of that- JC Boyle. Once the river hits California, it hits several more dams - the most notorious is Iron Gate, which stopped the migration of salmon scores of years ago.several miles
15 posted on 03/29/2002 7:39:35 PM PST by Archie Bunker on steroids
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To: tubebender
I don't know a whole lot about the area but I can point you to the bump lists that have many people who do and lots of info.

*Klamath_list

*KlamathBasinCrisis

16 posted on 03/29/2002 7:39:40 PM PST by Walkin Man
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To: tubebender
Yes the Link dam helps to store the water in the lake and it lets it out to the river as well as through the turbines.Part of water for farms goes through the headgates which is up the lake from Link dam.Your right in the idea that without the dam to catch the winter runoff in the lake, that there wouldn't be enough to flow river in late summer. The dammed lake and the irrigation projects are what make this system work, and the stupid greens want to ruin it all. Ed Hubel
17 posted on 03/29/2002 7:44:03 PM PST by hubel458
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To: Archie Bunker on steroids
I bet those Indians are all for Casino gambling and tax-free cigs though, that kind of stuff is great for the enviroment, eh? (c;
18 posted on 03/29/2002 7:46:04 PM PST by Walkin Man
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To: Walkin Man
These Siberian American Indians did not look like they were from these parts; they looked like an organized band of protesters. Total IQ of these folks is about 72.
19 posted on 03/29/2002 7:50:25 PM PST by Archie Bunker on steroids
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To: Archie Bunker on steroids
The local inviros held a press conference today to name the Klamath and two other rivers as the most threatened in Calif(?) They are turning the heat up here and the press laps it up. This was the North Coast Environmental Center. Sorry I don't have their URL. Also I know the local Yurok Tribe was at K Falls.
20 posted on 03/29/2002 7:50:31 PM PST by tubebender
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