Klamath falls reprieve. (Insider Report).

In late February, beleaguered farmers in the Klamath River Basin on the Oregon-California border received some welcome news: The Federal Bureau of Reclamation announced that it would release irrigation water in time for the 2002 planting season. On March 2nd, President Bush created the Klamath River Basin Working Group (KRBWG), an advisory panel mandated to devise "immediate steps and long-term solutions" to the conflict over water rights in the region.

As we have previously reported (see "High and Dry in the Klamath Basin" in our September 10,2001 issue), the decision to deny water to Klamath Basin farming communities was based upon the needs of suckerfish, a supposedly endangered species. Announcing the creation of the KRBWG, the president referred to "a scarcity of water available for both agricultural use and for maintenance of water levels ... to sustain endangered fish populations...."

However, as our earlier report pointed out: "Even if the sucker fish were truly endangered, the Klamath policy is the wrong way to help them. The suckers thrive in warm, shallow water; increasing the water flow levels hinders, rather than helps, their reproduction." This has been confirmed by a National Academy of Sciences report, which observed (in the words of Fox News) that the suckerfish "doesn't need as much water as previously thought." That report, coupled with an increase in rainfall to the drought-plagued region, "has the bureau planning to release the water to farmers in late March or early April."

This reprieve is not unalloyed good news. Reclamation Bureau spokesman John Keys told reporters: "There are never guarantees when dealing with a natural resource." Keys speaks for the same bureau that shut off the water even when Upper Klamath Lake was at historic high levels. Last August, Klamath farmer Rick Rodgers told THE NEW AMERICAN that, despite the drought, the lake was "the highest it's ever been. We had an absolutely full reservoir. And here it is August and it is still full. We still have areas [around the lake] that are covered with water that are usually dry by this time, but they won't give us our water."

The feds are still playing the "scarcity" charade, which means that the Klamath Basin farming community has received a stay of execution, rather than a full commutation.