District Manager’s View

By Rick Woodley

September 2007

Summer is winding down, and crop harvest is nearly in full swing. Early reports are that most quality is good, however yield is down somewhat from recent years. Early frost hurt some crops, very warm summer temperatures affected others and some yields seem to be down for no particular reason at all. Guess that is what makes farming so much fun, or challenging, or just plain difficult. We do need good quality, but as related expenses continue to soar, quantity is also a critical component.

Landowners in the Klamath Basin have spent literally millions of dollars on water conservation measures in order to continue producing agricultural products. The majority of farmers and ranchers are still reeling from the irrigation water theft in 2001. They are not in any position to suffer more financial burden. Losses in production make survival difficult. Hopefully, increased demand will keep prices at a higher level for this crop production period, and the Basin won’t suffer any more farms going out of business.

The KSWCD is both pleased and thankful for the abundant water conservation practices done on the ground by landowners. Every project completed gives each of them a little more hope for future irrigation water deliveries.

In the upper watershed areas of Klamath County, huge sums of money have been spent by countless agencies and organizations to improve water quality and conserve water. Some of these projects have been good with successful outcomes. It seems that there are about as many people offering advice as there are perceived problems in the watershed. The KSWCD has been outspoken about the necessity of a central office to coordinate all the conservation efforts, however, as of now there is no coordination of efforts. It appears that everyone with a plan is trying to convince landowners to do it their way. I hope in the end there will be some way to get credit for all the work that has been done, is being done, and will be done. More importantly, I pray that all the conservation projects and good faith efforts of landowners will lead to a certainty of irrigation water delivery for farmers and ranchers of the Klamath Basin. We were promised irrigation water delivery forever once before; maybe we will be able to retrieve that longstanding promise once again.