Sides reach agreement in Klamath water dispute

The Associated Press
7/8/2003, 7:52 p.m. PT

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — Environmental groups that planned to sue to restore water to protected fish species in the Klamath Basin have reached a settlement with the federal government, the groups said Tuesday.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation agreed to include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service in evaluations on the impacts of the 53-year-old Rogue Basin Project on endangered suckers and threatened coho salmon.

The move represents at least a temporary abatement in the legal battles over sharing water between fish and farms in the Klamath River Basin, where there is not enough water to go around.

The bureau has been pumping 30,000 acre feet of water a year — enough for about 300,000 people — into the Rogue Valley to irrigate pear orchards and other crops around Medford. The water comes from creeks that run into the Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, home to the suckers and salmon.

As part of the settlement, the bureau must work with the two fisheries agencies to produce a biological opinion on irrigation allocations by April 2004, said Wendell Wood, spokesman for the Oregon Natural Resources Council.

"Conservationists were not trying to say how or when or where water should be diverted, but biologists need to give their input," he said.

Diana Cross, spokeswoman for the bureau's Northwestern district, did not immediately return calls Tuesday.

The Oregon Natural Resources Council and the Northcoast Environmental Center in Arcata, Calif., filed a 60-day intent to sue notice in late January.

Among the Rogue Valley orchards irrigated by the project are those of the Bear Creek Corp., one of the region's leading employers and producer of Royal Riviera pears. The pears are shipped around the world by mail-order pioneer Harry and David.