The Bureau of Reclamation doesn’t just subsidize the Klamath’s federal irrigators, it also pampers them. That’s one reason those irrigators sustain a sense of their own importance and a disdain for the idea that our River needs flows adequate to support and sustain healthy aquatic ecosystems, including salmon runs.
Federal Irrigator disdain is always present in the newsletter of the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA). Here’s a link to their latest newsletter in which they state:
” Contrary to our January prayer for a Whoa! to the woe this year, it appears the federal government intends to put both the Whoa! and the woe to agricultural production and state water right holders in the Klamath Reclamation Project and around Upper Klamath Lake for the next 5 years.”
These irrigators want to continue the Klamath Water Wars and believe they will win out over the needs of our River when and if Trump is elected.
This is a sad thing. We cannot have “Peace of the River” so long as some water users deny the needs and rights of other water users and the needs of our River’s aquatic ecosystems.
The KBRA promised “peace” but it was a false peace based on substituting funding for restoration projects for the real (wet) water our River needs.
A real and sustainable “Peace on the River” can only be built on a foundation that bases flows on the needs of aquatic ecosystems, rather than limiting flows politically in order to maximize water deliveries to the 200,000 acre federal Klamath Irrigation Project.
Remember that knowing the opponent is critically important to effectively countering the opponent.
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3 Comments
Felice – this piece is a complete lie. First, you have the wrong organization. KWUA did not publish the piece quoted. Second, KWUA has been very clear in our call for balanced solutions this year, including considerations for the river. (See https://www.kwua.org/kwua-urges-leadership-and-immediate-action-to-address-critical-water-management-issues-in-the-klamath-basin/).
But hey, this is Klamath, where facts don’t matter. So just keep up spouting off whatever you want.
I’m not sure I see the point of this opinion piece other than for the author to read his own words in print. Aside from a massively incorrect attribution, his theory on “knowing the opponent” is something he doesn’t practice. If he did, he would know what some districts (such as the Klamath Drainage District, see https://klamathdrainagedistrict.org/category/lower-klamath-national-wildlife-refuge/) are doing on behalf of Klamath Basin refuges, which in turn will have an incredibly positive impact on Klamath River ecosystems.
It’s much more effective than lawsuits and misleading opinion pieces.
Healthy ecosystem and fish ? That went away when KRRC, backed by tribes, blew open copco 2 and massive dumped the river. All life forms perished..