TheCounter.org staff writer glosses over the complications of the Klamath Basin water crisis
While we’ve filed this under the category “Lies, Damn Lies & Misinformation”, it’s hard to tell which exactly it is. One thing we do feel, in our opinion, is that it’s pretty lazy “journalism”.
Following the sensationalist headline “Amid severe drought, Oregon farming region illegally diverts water from the Klamath River”, the author goes on to paint Klamath Drainage District (KDD) patrons as “thieves” and putting more pressure on sucker fish, salmon and downriver communities. Going from the alleged water theft to the complaints of Tribes and environmentalists, the article glosses over the history of the Klamath Basin water crisis and ends with a seemingly tidy solution – less Klamath ag.
However,the truth and finding a solution for the Klamath Basin crisis is much more challenging than that.
To begin to understand how complicated the situation is, the author needed to understand KDD’s water right. Oregon water law operates on a “first in time, first in line” and KDD has a 1905 water right like the rest of the Klamath Project along with another 1977 Oregon water right. On top of that, they own one of the diversion points from the river that isn’t under Federal control. Under Oregon state water law, when water is released into the river, KDD has the right to divert that water, just like anyone else who is allowed to divert from the Klamath River.
The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), which is tasked with the sole purpose of providing the Klamath Project (and other reclamation projects) with water, decided that this was some sort of special water. Specifically, special water to send downstream to satisfy the needs of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Though the BOR thinks this special water should flow down the Klamath river, according to KDD’s state water right, they are allowed to take it. While she (and the other’s she interviewed for the article) feel differently,KDD did nothing wrong. There’s no theft. They have a right to that water.
While the BOR apparently feels it’s their job to meet the commands and demands of the ESA, they’re either derelict or negligent in their duty to provide the Klamath Project with water. The Bureau is obligated to let the Project have it. There is no designated super-special, untouchable water from UKL despite what the BOR wants. And Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations is just absolutely wrong (or biased) with his quote, “I understand how people get desperate, but violating the law and stealing your neighbor’s water is not the way to solve this problem.”
Whether she wasn’t aware or didn’t fit the narrative, not providing this essential information skews the truth. Another fact that wasn’t included is that Upper Klamath Lake is not the only tributary to the Klamath River. It’s easier for the Feds to put the squeeze on UKL and the Project, but historically the lake wasn’t the only source for the water. On a map you can see all the rivers that flow into the Klamath River. Why her article doesn’t accuse people in the other tributaries of water theft in a drought is a bit unfair to KDD patrons and Project irrigators?
Speaking of the Klamath Project, the only reason that so much water can downstream for coho and other salmon is because the Klamath Project created a net gain in surface water when it was built and the Linkville and Keno dams allow the water past over natural reefs that would have prevented any water from UKL to pass in a drought. The current outflow from UKL is only possible because of the Project, yet that bit of info was somehow neglected.
Let’s discuss this statement: “Farmers and ranchers commonly frame USBR’s obligations under the Endangered Species Act as a form of “single-species management” that prioritizes conservation efforts to the detriment of other interests.” Yes, many in Klamath Basin feel this way. And we feel the crisis in the Basin is a direct result of that wrong-headed mentality. But to not follow it up with a “why” we feel that way also misses an incredibly important fact – this type of management is the direct result of pitting fish against every other living thing in the Basin.
Even worse, this has been the go-to style of management that has resulted in ZERO recovery for the coho, C’waam and Koptu. None. Water levels seem to be held at an unnatural, arbitrary depth while disease runs rampant in the Klamath River and sucker fish continue to decline. Perhaps a more holistic, realistic solution would be helpful for the recovery of those species without impacting the rest of the Klamath Basin’s wildlife. But instead, as the writer failed to point out, that’s not what’s been happening for the last 20-plus years.
Why she decided only to talk to some professor in Illinois instead of someone here on the ground is baffling. Most of the story feels like a mish-mash of quotes she’s seen in other articles about this year’s Klamath Basin water crisis, but somehow this egghead and the other environmentalists she spoke with have greater insights than the people whose livelihoods and communities will be directly affected. Pulling quotes from press releases and other writings doesn’t give the readers an honest insight as to what’s happening. That coupled with excluding very important, relevant facts as to what’s going on here makes it look like this “non-partisan newsroom” feel like it has a very definite bias.
It’s also hard to understand exactly why her professor emeritus of environmental law friend believes “it’s pretty clear there’s not enough water to support the existing level of agriculture.” We don’t know his science background, and maybe in college he was a triple major in agronomy, geology and hydrology. One major reason why folks like him view Basin agriculture as untenable is because they refuse to look at the major cause the Klamath Basin water crisis is the result of Federal mismanagement. All the family farms and ranches here could dry up and blow away to what we imagine would be the attorney’s glee, but the salmon and sucker fish would still be in decline. This isn’t just about agriculture and what irrigation districts are allowed to legally do. This is about Federal mismanagement.
One last thing – when referencing a source, the journalist should have made sure the source she was referencing backed up her statement. “Until then, the ongoing crisis may continue to raise tensions in the region, and even lead some to obtain limited water resources by any means necessary. As of today, according to live discharge data from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Klamath Drainage District continues to divert water from the river at a rate of 200 cubic feet per second.”
The graph she references doesn’t even show it hitting 200 cfs, and her implication she’s making of Basin irrigators is insulting. Did she share any information from Upper Klamath Lake? Nope. If she would have, we’d see a outflow down the Link River from Upper Klamath Lake around the beginning of April. The reason for that diversion out of UKL was to sate the ESA’s specious one-species management approach in favor of the salmon.
Again, this approach fails to look at other wildlife species that will be dramatically impacted. The birds of the Pacific Flyway, which raised ducklings and goslings in irrigation ditches and canals and fed on farmers’ leftover grain and winter wheat are not returning. And for the ones that do, we’re expecting another massive botulism outbreak. From deer to coyotes to otters, wildlife depends on water in the fields and water in the ditches.
Rangeland north of Upper Klamath Lake have been droughted for years due to water calls, drying out the sponge that would recharge water systems. After two years of drought, fallowed fields will suffer the same fate, creating yet another environmental crisis for the Klamath Basin. It may be easy to paint our family farmers and ranchers as uncaring about the environment (and apparently we’re potentially violent as well), but it is unmitigated bullshit.
Whether bias or a deadline influenced the message of this article, we feel the writer does Klamath Basin agriculture a disservice. This is an extremely complicated water crisis we’re in. With so many facts not acknowledged, this article does little help to move the conversation forward. If simply throwing water at these issues would solve them, we wouldn’t have been doing the same damn thing for over 20 years now. Meanwhile, endangered species are still in decline while surface water from Upper Klamath Lake continues to pour down the Klamath River despite the fact there’s no inflow to the lake.
It’s not that simple.
Trust us.
For an example of how this type of article gets used and irresponsibly associates the Klamath Basin agriculture and our water crisis with fringe elements, check out the images used in the re-post by the High Country News.
