Associated Press | February 27, 2002
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - The federal government said Wednesday it expects to deliver water this year to Klamath Basin farmers, unlike a year ago when irrigation was sharply curtailed to save water for threatened and endangered fish.
Last year's cutbacks set off a tense confrontation between farmers and the federal government.
The Bureau of Reclamation said resumption of full irrigation was due to a bountiful snowpack and a National Academy of Sciences review that threw on the need to reserve water for fish.
"This presents an ... environmentally responsible approach to the competing water needs in the Klamath Basin," Reclamation Commissioner John Keys said in a statement.
The bureau's plan must be reviewed by biologists for the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Those agencies are supposed to complete their review in time for irrigation to begin April 1.
Last year, federal agencies cut water to irrigation canals serving about 1,400 farms to preserve water levels in Upper Klamath Lake for the endangered sucker fish and to increase flows into the Klamath River for the threatened coho.
The plan announced Wednesday was bittersweet news for farmers because it does not provide an immediate guarantee of water.
"Nobody can get a bank loan 'til we get a guarantee of water," said fertilizer dealer Bob Gasser, a spokesman for the Klamath Water Users Association. "The banks have said unless you have a well, we're not giving loans."
Commercial salmon fisherman, too, expressed displeasure.
"They are plunging the entire downriver into permanent drought, offering in some cases less than one-third of what fish need for minimal survival," said Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.
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