If it’s not the KBRA, what is the plan?
Herald and News letter to the editor by Steve Kandra, Klamath Falls 5/11/10
There is a water crisis occurring in the Klamath Basin today. The lack of a Klamath Basin-wide longterm strategy to manage our water resources will leave family farms and ranches dry in Langell Valley, Henley, Klamath Falls, Midland, Malin, Merrill, and Tulelake.The absence of strategic planning will pit irrigator against irrigator on the Wood, Williamson, Sprague and Sycan Rivers this summer. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be lost to the local economy. Thousands of jobs are in jeopardy.
There is a plan on the table to resolve conflicts for all who volunteer to participate it’s the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement. In the two years since the KBRA began public review, no viable alternative plan has been introduced for public scrutiny by opponents of the KBRA. There is no alternative
plan that provides affordable power to irrigation, provides incentive to
adjudicate water rights without litigation, improves fisheries, and protects
electrical ratepayers. Opponents to the KBRA offer continued conflict and
economic hardship without solution.