LaMalfa: Immediate Action Needed to Prevent Klamath Basin Devastation

Statement

Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) issued the following statement in response to Bureau of Reclamation's announcement that no water will be diverted at A Canal from Upper Klamath Lake for irrigation in 2021, the first year since 1907 the canal will deliver no water to farmers and ranchers.

LaMalfa said, "The Bureau of Reclamation's shocking decision to forbid delivery of Klamath Project water to our water-starved farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin underscores the almost total failure of the existing water management plan. Our farmers and ranchers pay for this canal system and the dams that store their water. The courts have repeatedly recognized that the stored project water in the lake belongs to the farmers, yet this year the Bureau of Reclamation will again seize what they do not own, without compensation, to comply with questionable Endangered Species Act requirements. Farmers and the community will be devastated as drought conditions worsen, causing domestic and agricultural wells to possibly dry up. Water deliveries to the wildlife refuge area will be next to nothing, causing botulism outbreaks that kill tens of thousands of shorebirds. Much good work was done in 2020 to limit damage to refuge areas, but loss of water will put that in jeopardy. Additionally, basin farmers have already planted crops that will no longer have enough water to survive until harvest. Untold economic, societal and environmental damage will be done by this decision. The Klamath Basin will be devastated for years to come if the Biden administration does not take immediate action to alleviate this crisis. I will be working with every possible partner to bring relief to the basin."

LaMalfa has worked to bring attention to the severity of this crisis in Washington and collaborated with local efforts to implement an effective water management plan for the Klamath Basin.

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