Klamath Basin Colten Wright regarding BOR water shutoff 042121

Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.

Young Klamath Basin aspiring agriculturist Colten Wright regarding the Bureau of Reclamation's decision to shut down more than 90% of our deeded water allocation

April 13, 2021

						As 
						a young, aspiring agriculturist I have always wanted to 
						continue on the legacy of my families farm. Getting the 
						phone call at 1 am to go bale hay and smelling the dew 
						settle in on the hay is one of the most satisfying 
						experiences ever. The relationships and lessons on a 
						farm are so much more beneficial than anything learned 
						in a classroom. Growing food for a nation is noble and 
						rewarding in the experiences possible. I had a sudden 
						sense of change within this last year. A fear mongering 
						reality set in... will this way of life that has given 
						so much simply be around for me to cherish?! As I drove 
						my families hay squeeze through a rally of farmers just 
						protesting for water, I felt a rush of resatisfaction. 
						Seeing all of these amazing people come together for one 
						goal... to SURVIVE. I was hopeful for the upcoming water 
						year. Then with a less than ideal winter and more 
						incompetent science, irrigators were told they are being 
						cut off to an almost nothing supply once again. I simply 
						felt crushed for my community. I now sit here and wonder 
						if it is such a good idea to take my hand in surviving 
						as a Klamath Basin farmer. I am fearful for another 
						devasting water year to come. What is the goal of 
						cutting off these farmers, to starve our communities of 
						the limited resources we have? Malin, Merrill, Tulelake, 
						Bonanza, Keno, Klamath Falls, Fort Klamath, we are at 
						risk of losing everything we know and love. If the 
						farming community is lost, we don’t have a sustainable 
						economy. We will no longer be cities, we will be ruins 
						and travel destinations for what once was. 

						I 
						spent a lot of time in the organization, Future Farmers 
						of America (FFA) and in that organization we would 
						always say, “I believe in the future of agriculture”, 
						but can we believe in the future of Klamath Basin 
						Agriculture? In order for this precious farm ground, 
						beautiful landscape, the future for young Klamath Basin 
						kids, and an absolutely astonishing community to survive 
						we must have support from the people sitting in DC and 
						hopefully they will recognize the bad biased science. 
						Hopefully they will take a hand in protecting 
						communities at stake. Hopefully they will recognize that 
						American agriculturists have always had a goal of a 
						prospering nation and then will take partnership in 
						supporting a small group of people who do so much in 
						this country.

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