Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
WATER TALES
Along the Oregon-California border in the Klamath River
Basin, water wars have brewed for years. The fi ght pits,
among other things, the fi sh and the Endangered Species
Act versus farmers who need water for their livestock and
crops. Adding to the fray is another stakeholder, Portland,
Oregon- based Pacifi Corp, which operates a string of
hydroelectric power plants on the river.
In 2001, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation cut off most of the
water supply to the Klamath Reclamation Project in accordance
with requirements to protect fi sh habitat as part of the Endangered
Species Act. That left farmers, who had for decades counted on the
water, high and dry.
Years of dispute have followed. In 2001, water “mysteriously”
was diverted to the “closed” irrigation canals. Meanwhile discus-
sions and litigation continued. Early in 2010 with great fanfare,
a “fi nal” agreement was announced to settle the dispute and ena-
ble removal of four dams on the river. But not all parties in the fray
were involved, so it's not over by a long stretch. Today reclamation
of the Klamath Basin continues (in January 2011, the EPA approved
California's formal water-quality improvement plan for the Klamath
River), as do water allocations for irrigation in accordance with the
Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
Majority rules.
Different opinions and agendas aside, events,
economics, and simple majority rule may force farmers eventually
to re-evaluate how they use water, adds hydrometeorologist Frank
Richards, who studies how the water on the ground affects the
weather. “Decisions are made by the majority, and farmers are not
a majority. They're always going to be at a disadvantage when deci-
sions are made solely by a majority, especially if the decision process
isn't informed and doesn't fully consider impacts on all the stake-
holders,” says Richards.
In the Southeast, for example, will Atlanta or rural areas get
the water? In California, will it be the cities or the rural agricultural
