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CLEAR Temp: 51 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, February 5, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend January 31, 2003 Suit stalks water diversion Two groups want the Bureau of Reclamation to stop sending Klamath water to Rogue Basin growers By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Two environmental groups intend to sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to stop the historic diversion of water from the upper Klamath Basin drainage to pear growers and others in the upper Rogue Basin. If successful, the lawsuit would cut some 30,000 acre feet of winter water stored in Hyatt, Howard Prairie and Fish Lake reservoirs for spring and summer distribution by the Talent, Medford and Rogue River irrigation districts. Shutting off the water would be devastating to orchardists, farmers and others dependent on irrigation water, said a spokesman for the Talent Irrigation District, which receives the lion’s share of the diverted water. The Oregon Natural Resources Council, or ONRC, and the Northcoast Environmental Center, or NEC, on Thursday filed a 60-day notice to sue, charging the bureau with failure to consult with other federal agencies as required under the federal Endangered Species Act regarding the impacts of the diversions on threatened and endangered fish species. The bureau began consultations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service in March and April 2001 but didn’t complete the process and a draft biological assessment as required, the plaintiffs said. The bureau’s Klamath Falls office did not return a call for comment from the Mail Tribune. Federal agencies rarely comment on pending lawsuits. According to the plaintiffs, the diversions harm threatened coho salmon in Bear Creek and other Rogue River drainages as well as coho salmon and the endangered shortnose and Lost River sucker fish in the upper Klamath River drainage. "The Klamath-Rogue transfer removes a significant volume of water from the already over-stressed Klamath, negatively impacting river and wetland wildlife resources, "said Tim McKay, executive director of the Arcata, Calif.-based NEC. "For decades, irrigators on the Klamath Irrigation Project and elsewhere in the Upper Klamath Basin have diverted vast quantities of water for farming, leaving little for the area’s spectacular wildlife refuges and once-abundant fisheries," he added. "As a result, the Klamath’s ecosystems, fish and wildlife have drastically declined." Had that water not been diverted last fall, a major salmon kill in the lower Klamath River would probably not have happened, the plaintiffs said. But Ron Meyer, president of the TID board and a third-generation pear grower, said the water is vital to the agricultural community in the Bear Creek and upper Rogue River watershed. The bureau and irrigation groups have been working to address issues raised by environmental groups, Meyer said. "There are some things being done," he said. "But what puzzles me is that most of what we divert is wintertime flows. A major portion of that would go down the streams in flood stage. "That water is very important to us," Meyer said. "Why is it important to environmentalists, since this is wintertime flows? The summertime is when they need that water for fish." The reason, said ONRC policy analyst Jim McCarthy, an Ashland resident, is that streams require year-round natural flows to provide healthy habitat for fish. In addition, deeper pools with streamside vegetation keep water cooler and healthier for fish, he said. Each summer, the diversion reduces the flow in Jenny Creek by a third to a half, he said. An average 24,000 acre-feet is stored each winter in the Howard Prairie and Hyatt reservoirs from Jenny Creek on the east side of the Cascade Range. More than half of that stored behind Howard Prairie dam comes from the Rogue drainage. Another 6,000 acre-feet from the Fourmile reservoir drainage in the Klamath Basin is diverted into Fish Lake, then flows into the north fork of Little Butte Creek to the Medford and Rogue River irrigation districts. The irrigation-dependent Rogue Valley pear industry, which has been tapping into the Klamath Basin water via gravity-fed canals for more than half a century, is valued at about $14 million and covers about 8,000 acres. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S