FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2003
Contacts: Allen Foreman, Tribal Chairman, 541-783-2219
Bud Ullman, Tribes’ water attorney, 541-783-3081
Don Wharton, Native American Rights Fund (land issues) 303-447-8760
Joe Browder, Washington D.C., 202-546-3720
Monica Shovlin, The Ulum Group, 541-434-7028
Klamath Tribes Say Bureau's Flip-Flop On Irrigation Project Is Proof Of Major
Change Needed In Klamath Basin Water Management
Klamath Falls, Ore. — The Klamath Tribes said today that the Bureau of Reclamation's shifting water directives regarding allocation of Upper Klamath Lake water to the Klamath Irrigation Project are evidence that major change must come in the management of waters that flow through the Klamath Basin. Klamath Tribes Chairman Allen Foreman said, "The Bureau of Reclamation has shown once again that their management plans can't work for Project irrigators, for agriculture above Upper Klamath Lake, or for the fisheries that are supposed to be protected under federal law and U.S. government treaties."
"President Bush and Interior Secretary Gale Norton are clearly correct in saying that the Klamath Basin needs a water settlement that brings more rational management to a limited water supply," Chairman Foreman added. "Even in a fairly decent water year, there simply isn't enough water to meet the demands of competing upstream and downstream irrigators, much less the needs of the Klamath Tribes' fish and other natural resources, which must be restored to abundance and not simply kept hovering at the brink of extinction."
Klamath tribal fisheries have been closed for 17 consecutive years. They were originally closed in 1986 because fish populations were declining at an alarming rate. The Lost River and short-nose suckers were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1988. Pollution of Upper Klamath Lake and its tributaries, along with agricultural withdrawals from the lake and streams, contributed to the decline.
Chairman Foreman concluded, "In response to Secretary Norton, the Klamath Tribes have been willing to discuss settlement terms that could help bring more stability to water management in the Basin. Recently, we have been encouraged to see some agricultural irrigators start looking at ways they could use less water and contribute to a water settlement. We hope these latest problems in the Bureau of Reclamation will persuade everyone to abandon the illusion that the Bureau's current system can be made to work, and to focus instead on building a real future for everyone in the Klamath Basin."
Copies of a “Chronology of the Klamath Reservation” and “The
Case for Klamath Tribal Lands Restoration” are available from Monica
Shovlin at 541-434-7028 or mshovlin@ulum.com.