Congressman Doug LaMalfa News Release 7/11/2020

(Klamath Falls, OR) – Congressman Doug LaMalfa attended Klamath Water Users Roundtable with U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman, and other stakeholders in the Klamath Basin to discuss the bureaucracy-created disaster – this year’s last-minute reduction of Basin farmers’ water allocation from 140,000 acre feet in April to 80,000 acre feet in May. After Congressman LaMalfa continuously engaged with the Trump Administration, water allocations were restored to the April commitment, and the tens of thousands of acres of already planted crops would be able to survive the growing season. Congressman LaMalfa and Congressman Greg Walden (OR-02) extended the invitation to Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman to visit the Basin for today’s events.

LaMalfa said: “The roundtable spotlighted the ongoing plight of Klamath Basin irrigators and the wildlife refuge. Bad science has led to decades of disregard for the irrigators’ water rights, and there need to be long-term solutions to update the science so farmers can receive the water that they own. This water does not belong to anyone other than Basin farmers, and the bureaucracy has no right to take it away without compensation. The farmers who own the water in the Klamath Project were able to share their stories first-hand with Secretary Bernhardt and Commissioner Burman about the effects of the wrongful water shutoffs in the Klamath Project including to vulnerable duck populations on the Klamath Refuge.

Yesterday’s meeting was about listening to all parties: tribes, communities, refuge advocates, and farmers so we can educate the Secretary on the realities of this project. This was a beginning of a fresh look at a solution rather than continuing on the failed efforts of the last administration.”

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.
 

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