Adjudication without settlement potentially devastating for agriculture
By BECKY HYDE
Guest commentary
Klamath Falls Herald and News
March 30, 2010
I appreciate former state Sen. Steve Harper’s recent work on securing a veterans home for Klamath Falls, and wholeheartedly support that effort.
However, I was concerned about statements that he made regarding the Klamath Basin’s ongoing adjudication.
Harper helped facilitate an effort about five years ago to try to solve some of the complex issues around water, as it related to the Klamath Tribes, the Project irrigators and the off-Project. That effort did not bear fruit. He joins many of us in failed past efforts to solve this problem.
It was not just the Bureau of Indian Affairs that had trouble with Harper’s agreement. It was also the Klamath Tribes General Council and the Project irrigators.
Harper need not worry about the state adjudication process. It is clearly marching on.
Just “get it adjudicated” without a settlement, is a potentially devastating outcome for this agricultural community above the lake and Harper needs to understand that.
Nobody in the off-Project will rest easy until there is a complete water settlement with the Klamath Tribes.
Let’s be clear — the adjudication is moving forward and there is a reasoned process to “settle” these issues happening at the same time.
For him to say that the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement does not help “upper county agriculturists” makes me question his basic understanding of the agreement.
Where is his plan for affordable power for my neighbors pumping from deep wells?
Where is his plan for protection for my community from endangered species — the very fish that have ranch and farm families in the Klamath Project wondering how they are going to survive to the end of summer — again?
Where is his plan for my good neighbor down the road with a 1978 water right hurtling toward a “get adjudicated” future?
Harper’s a smart man, and the KBRA is far from perfect, but a lot has happened in the last five years.
I would welcome a public debate on this issue — anytime, anywhere, between the folks Harper listens to and the folks shaping a future for ranching and farming in the off-Project.