More help is on the way to farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin. The Agriculture Department has designated Klamath County as a “primary natural disaster area” because of drought conditions.
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More help is on the way to farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin. The Agriculture Department has designated Klamath County as a “primary natural disaster area” because of drought conditions.
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When government and tribal leaders gathered in Salem earlier this year to sign the Klamath basin agreements, the talk was all about dam removal. ”Hasta la vista to the dams,” said California’s Governor Schwarzenegger. But what Schwarzenegger, Governor Kulongoski and the others glossed over is that there is no agreement to remove dams on the...
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A good story in the Klamath Falls paper describes how this year’s drought will hurt area farmers and the region’s economy. The expert interviewed in the story says it’s too early to put a dollar figure on how bad things might get. Here’s something I learned – in the decade since the previous drought...
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The Keep Nestle Out Of The Gorge campaign kicked off Monday with a friendly little reminder from Mother Nature on what this is all about. It rained. You see, as far as anti-Nestle organizers are concerned this debate is all about water – who gets to control it, and how it’s used.
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What’s so bad about a water bottling plant in the Gorge? Plenty, according to a coalition of Oregon environmental groups. For starters, the company proposing the plant is Nestle, the international conglomerate that’s controversial for how it promotes breast feeding formula in Third World countries. Next, the water Nestle wants to bottle is from...
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With Willamette Valley snow pack way below average, and no extra rain in the forecast, the Army Corps of Engineers says most of the reservoirs it operates in the valley won’t fill up this spring. We’re not anywhere near drought conditions. But the dry forecast means the Corps will have a tougher job managing...
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While no one is using the “D” word yet, officials at the state, federal and local levels are bracing for what could be the worst drought ever in the Klamath Basin. Governor Kulongoski was in the region this morning for a meeting with area officials about what needs to be done now to prepare....
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If we’re ever going to restore the Willamette River basin, it’s going to cost a huge chunk of money. Anywhere from about $593 million to $1.2 billion, according to Oregon DEQ. In a new report, DEQ says decades of farming, logging and urban development have degraded the basins streams and rivers.
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During Thursday’s Klamath Basin signing ceremony, one group was conspicuously absent, Oregon’s environmental community. Groups such as Oregon Wild and Water Watch, say they were kicked out of the talks that produced the two historic deals on Klamath Basin water sharing and dam removal. National groups such as American Rivers and Trout Unlimited did...
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Judging by the love fest inside the Capitol Rotunda this morning, it’s hard to imagine that the Klamath water wars ever existed. The room was filled with smiles, applause and some humor courtesy of Governor Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger joked it was finally time to say, “Hasta la vista to the dams.” The crowd ate it...
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