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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