Klamath Basin Water Table Down 20' In Two Years - Farmers Sink 100 Wells

[hatrack]

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. -- "Klamath Basin farmers are facing another water crisis, this time caused by the widespread use of wells after the federal government cut off their irrigation water in 2001.

The Bush administration has encouraged this use, paying farmers to irrigate crops with billions of gallons of water from the wells, leaving lake and river water for protected fish. But now the underground reservoir that feeds the wells is shrinking -- the water table is down 20 feet in places -- and some wells show signs of failing. Few farmers or agency officials think the record pumping can or should last. Yet they say it's the only way they have to keep crops going when government biologists say fish need water that would otherwise flow to their fields.

"It's not a solution," said Jim Carleton, a Merrill farmer who joined neighbors to sink a $105,000 well last year after his farm endured bankruptcy when canals went dry in 2001. "It's a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound." Don Rajnus, a farmer near Malin who serves on Oregon's Ground Water Advisory Committee, said neighbors have had wells falter and are contemplating lawsuits claiming their water rights are being usurped.

"I know there's a limit to how much you can pump, and I think we're going to find it this year," he said. "The water belongs to the people, not to whoever wants to buy and sell it." The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to pay at least $1.6 million for more well water this summer to meet demands of federal biologists who insist on certain flows in the Klamath River for threatened coho salmon. The flows may not stay high enough if farms in the reclamation project on the California-Oregon border take their full irrigation allotment."

EDIT

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/171653_water03.html

[Ready4Change]

1. FYI, the farms in question are in eastern Oregon.

While Western Oregon is moist and lush with greenery, the Cascade Mountains squeeze all the moisture out of the air that flows from the Pacific Ocean. On the other side of the Cascades, Eastern Oregon is referred to as the High Desert. It's very arid, so much so that many Western movies were shot there. It really looks like the old west, and there is a strong cowboy lifestyle there.

Left on it's own, plant growth there would be largely limited to sage brush, cactus and patches of stunted trees. However, by bringing water in via a network of canals, the region supports a wide range of farming.

So this is really a problem of mans creation. The farms only exist because we diverted water flows, and now we are realizing that nature needed that water for other purposes.

My instincts say that the answer is to allow the farms to dry up, as they aren't supported by the natural ecology. However, I've relatives who depend on those farms, so I can see the other side of the issue as well.

Just thought I'd toss in some additional info. I've no answer to provide.

[DenverDem]

2. Exactly! What do you expect from farming in the desert?

These yahoos think they have a right to take cheap desert land and turn it into farms by killing off native species. Morans!

[TreasonousBastard]

3. The Colorado is drying up....

the Rio Grande no longer actually drains into the Gulf, Mexico City's aquifer has dropped drastically, New Jersey's primary aquifier is draining, the Oglalla aquifier has dropped, the Chinese are searching for water sources...

We are buying water from the Canadians. Parts of the West and Africa are dealing with the worst drought in a hundred years or so.

Worldwide, we are fast running out of fresh water. This is well known to pretty much everyone who works on water projects.

It's a terrifying prospect. As with many terrifying prospects, though, no one will come up with a good answer until the taps run dry.

And then the answer won't seem so good.