Senator Seeks Delay of Foreclosure on Farms

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden called on financial interests Friday to hold off foreclosures on Klamath Basin farmers who have been denied water this summer, and to give him time to put together legislation to balance agriculture against endangered fish and wildlife.

A court-sponsored mediation process is working too slowly to assure long-term solutions in time for next year’s growing season, so Wyden (D-Oregon) will call together representatives of agriculture, conservation groups and Indian tribes shortly after Labor Day to begin crafting a legislative package, aide Josh Kardon said.

After federal biologists set minimum water levels for endangered fish in the basin, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation decided in April that water supplies severely depleted by drought left nothing to provide irrigation to most of the 220,000 acres served by the Klamath Project.