$175-Million Klamath Plan Is Proposed

A draft proposal by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden would set aside $175 million over five years as a long-term solution to the Klamath Basin’s water woes.

The Oregon Democrat said he is in touch with California’s two Democratic senators about trying to attach it to a major farm bill this week.

The proposal was circulated privately last week to congressional offices and interest groups for comment.

According to a copy obtained by the Oregonian newspaper, the plan would create an interagency task force charged with developing, within six months, a comprehensive plan for agriculture and wildlife in the drought-ravaged basin.

The Klamath and other tribes would receive $30 million to aid species recovery, and an additional $2 million would be earmarked for migrant farm workers who have been among the basin’s economic casualties.

Because of one of the worst droughts on record, the federal government curtailed water deliveries to Klamath irrigators last spring, causing some to let fields go brown and sparking angry protests.

The water cutoff was needed to save fish and bald eagles protected by the Endangered Species Act, federal officials said, although irrigators protested that the decision was based on questionable science.