Summary: The Klamath Water War

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The Klamath Water War:
The effects of water scarcity are relatively new for irrigators in the Klamath Basin as decreasing summer and spring snow melts have brought a re-examination of water priorities in the region. In times of drought, irrigators received priority in water allocation because of the prevailing legal rights and normative values at the time. The Klamath Wildlife Refuges and the Salmon received the leftover water that which was not needed for irrigation (Tarlock 2007). In 2001, the USFWS issued biological opinion reports that stated that because of the severe drought, water levels in both the Upper Klamath and Lower Klamath must be maintained at higher levels to preserve the endangered Coho Salmon and the Short nose and Lost …show more content…

The process of collaboration began with these meetings which evolved into more formal discussions on water allocation (Gosnell and Kelly 2010) The KBRA does not establish water rights, but it is a formal agreement on how water will be allocated when there is sufficient flow to meet the terms of the agreement. As it pertains to the wildlife refuges; the KBRA requires 48,000 to 60,00 acre feet in the summer months and 35,000 acre feet to go to Lower Klamath NWR in the winter period which includes allocations to cooperative farmland. The agreement allocates 13,000 acres of wetlands and open water to Tule Lake NWR, which includes cooperative farming land on the refuge(Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement 2010).As the KBRA cannot legally create a water right, delivers are contingent upon the total available water in the basin. If there is a water deficit of more than 20,000 acre feet no water is allocated to the refuges during the summer months. In terms of refuge farming the KBRA refers to the Kuchel Act of 1964. If the KBRA is not renewed the refuges will not be given any water and both bird and farmers will live in uncertainty. It is likely that other more informal agreements may be negotiated between groups, but none as binding or inclusive as the

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