Farmers Lose Bid for Irrigation Water
A narrowly divided U.S. Senate blocked legislation Thursday that would suspend new environmental requirements for Upper Klamath Lake created to help save the endangered sucker fish.
Rather than keep the requirements in place, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), wanted the government first to implement a plan outlined in 1993 to boost the fish’s population.
His amendment was aimed at easing tensions in the Klamath Basin--which straddles the Oregon-California border--caused by the government’s decision to shut off irrigation water to help sucker fish. Opponents accuse him of trying to weaken the Endangered Species Act.
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