Bomb scare disrupts talks regarding Klamath water

 

By TAM MOORE
from Capital Press - www.capitalpress.com

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.9/14/01  - The state of Oregon resumed efforts to speed Klamath Basin water adjudication Sept. 11, only to have the meeting interrupted by a bomb threat at the Klamath County Courthouse.

"You notice he didn't have to tell us twice," said Jeff Mitchell of Chiloquin, a regular at alternate dispute resolution talks, as nearly 30 participants quickly left a basement conference room and eyed the sky, mindful of terrorist attacks on the East Coast just hours before. Folks scattered as police cars moved in to seal access to the building.

ADR talks were suspended this spring after a federal irrigation water cutoff and an unresolved lawsuit involving most major players in the 25-year-old adjudication process.

The Sept. 11 disruption, less than two hours into the afternoon meeting, came as leaders seeking to avoid a repeat of this year's federal cancellation of irrigation water deliveries said there's progress toward solutions (see: Three paths to crisis resolution, Page 3). About 1,200 of 1,400 farms in the federal irrigation project on both sides of the California-Oregon border went without project water except for a four-week allocation in late July.

Sorting out pre-1909 water rights on the Oregon side of the border is seen as part of a long-term ordering of Klamath Basin water issues. But Paul Cleary, director of Oregon's Department of Water Resources, told ADR participants there are a lot more issues beyond legally deciding which user loses water in time of drought.

"Adjudication isn't going to create more water, save habitat or solve water- quality issues," Cleary said.

ADR participants also learned that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is still scrambling to line up minimum water needed for October wetland flooding in Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. It's home of the nation's largest overwintering bald eagle population. The refuge usually gets about 75,000 acre feet of water in a season, delivered as runoff from surrounding project farmland.

Superintendent Phil Norton said about 5,200 acre feet of water is needed in October to create wetland needed for waterfowl which become feed for the winter eagle invasion.

Jim Bryant, head of operations for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project, said he should know within two weeks if there's October refuge water from drought-shortened project storage and contracted wells.

The refuges got shots of water from several sources in August and September.

"It's like farmers" Norton said. "They didn't get anything near normal. It's kind of sad, just a fraction of what you need."

Adjudication involves around 700 contested claims for water rights which existed before Oregon water law was enacted in 1909. American Indians represented by the Klamath Tribes and federal agencies have the largest claims in water volume. More than 600 contests deal with private property owners involved either as direct diverters or as patrons of irrigation districts, drainage districts and private ditch companies.

Reed Marbut, of Department of Water Resources, coordinates Oregon's attempt to resolve some of those claims by settlements between parties instead of formal administrative and court contests. He said state hearings officers should start issuing preliminary opinions on some federal contested cases "within two or three months."

Left unresolved when the bomb scare halted this week's meeting was the question of whether Oregon should continue monthly ADR forums as the administrative hearings move forward. Marbut said he's considering getting the group together every other month.

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