Solutions, not victims, in the Klamath Basin

Wheat farmer and founding president of the Upper Klamath Water Users Association responds to comments that Klamath Farmers are "tragic victims" in the Klamath Basin Restoration effort.

Many of us who are ranchers and farmers in the Sprague, Wood and Williamson valleys of the Upper Klamath Basin have been here for generations. We're proud of the food we produce, and the open space we steward for all Oregonians. We face complicated problems, especially with the state's water rights adjudication, but we are not the tragic victims that columnist James Huffman portrayed in his recent commentary in The Oregonian ("Left high and dry in the Klamath Basin?" Oct. 29).

Water is vital here -- as it is across the West. It has been a source of conflict between the Klamath Tribes and local ranchers. We have seen decades of litigation, costing our community a lot of money and a lot of sleepless nights -- with very little to show for it.

We formed the Upper Klamath Water Users Association to come to the table and hammer out a water agreement with the Klamath Tribes and others. We are working through the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement "settlement" process and its goal of stability for rural communities and solutions for our diverse resource issues. In the agreement, the Klamath Irrigation Project -- our farming neighbors to the south -- have come to a water settlement with the Klamath Tribes. This is a concrete result, and we intend to do the same.

Those who continue to rely on litigation alone ignore reality. Those of us in the Upper Klamath association recognize that change is coming to our ranches through the state's water rights adjudication, which will decide how much water will go to agriculture and what will stay in-stream. Court decisions years ago determined that the tribes have a water right senior to all other users. That right will be quantified in the adjudication. This should be no surprise to informed water attorneys, or people working on behalf of the rights of agriculture in the Klamath Basin, statewide or nationally.

For litigation to save us, we have to prevail against the Klamath Tribes, and the federal government, in multiple layers of litigation, each costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, potentially all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. While we understand a legitimate litigation strategy, we also need to carefully weigh the risk.

The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement provides a framework and resources to support settlement with the Klamath Tribes. Instead of some percentage of our ranches and farms going out of business while they lose water in the adjudication, we are working to find solutions that keep agricultural stability in our community, while dealing with water being held in-stream. Settlement will not, as Huffman asserts, allow "government bureaucrats" to take "all upper basin water." The draft agreement makes clear that it does not and cannot change Oregon water law or the outcome of the adjudication.

Those of us in the Upper Klamath Water Users Association see a path forward that creates stability for agriculture, and keeps open space for all Oregonians. We've watched others in agriculture in the basin reach agreements and settle. We are not victims. We are working to protect our water and maintain our way of life. We do not, however, believe a court can decide a better future than we can.

Karl Scronce is a wheat farmer and founding president of the Upper Klamath Water Users Association and current president of the National Association of Wheatgrowers.