Capital Press
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Friday, April 15, 2022
Volume 95, Number 15
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ANOTHER DIFFICULT SUMMER
George Plaven/Capital Press File
Irrigation equipment sits idle in a dried-up hay field near Klamath Falls, Ore., in August 2021. The federal Bureau of Reclamation has announced this year’s water allocation
for Klamath Project farmers, who say it is too little.
Bureau of Reclamation announces limited
water for Klamath Basin irrigators
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
K
Courtesy of Justin Grant
Klamath Basin farmer Justin Grant, his girl-
friend, Morgan Barnes, and their two chil-
dren, Wade and Westlynn.
L A M A T H
FALLS,
Ore.
— Heading into
another irrigation
season with little
to no water, Klam-
ath Basin farmer Justin Grant
said he is facing an increas-
ingly dire situation.
Grant, 32, and his girl-
friend, Morgan Barnes, farm
300 acres near Midland,
Ore., about 10 miles south
of Klamath Falls, where they
grow alfalfa, pasture grass
and raise cattle.
Last year was immensely
difficult, Grant said, as the
U.S. Bureau of Reclama-
tion shut off water deliv-
eries to the Klamath Proj-
ect, which includes 170,000
acres of farmland in South-
ern Oregon and Northern
California.
Even with supplemental
groundwater, he could only
produce a fraction of his nor-
mal crop.
“We did what we could
with it,” Grant said. “Our
businesses are not growing.
They’re shrinking, or stag-
nant at best.”
See Water, Page 11
9th Circuit rejects challenge to grazing in California national forest
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Grazing cattle on three allotments
of California’s Stanislaus National For-
est doesn’t violate state pollution rules
or the Clean Water Act, according to a
federal appeals court.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals has ruled that grazing in the
national forest complies with the Clean
Water Act under a 41-year-old man-
agement agreement between Califor-
nia water regulators and the U.S. For-
est Service.
The Central Sierra Environmen-
tal Resource Center and Sierra For-
est Legacy nonprofits filed a lawsuit
against the grazing authorizations,
arguing they violated requirements
of California’s Porter-Cologne Water
Quality Control Act.
The lawsuit claimed these viola-
tions effectively meant the Forest Ser-
vice also ran afoul of the federal Clean
Water Act, which requires federal agen-
cies to abide by state water regulations.
The environmental plaintiffs alleged
that runoff from livestock manure in
the grazing allotments had caused fecal
coliform bacteria to exceed regional
water quality objectives.
According to their complaint, the
Forest Service didn’t follow “water
discharge requirements” or obtain
waivers for discharges as mandated by
California statute.
However, the 9th Circuit has ruled
the federal agency met state regula-
tory criteria under a “management
agency agreement” signed in 1981,
under which grazing must follow “best
management practices” in lieu of other
requirements.
This agreement has remained oper-
ative after four decades despite a “non-
point source” pollution control pro-
gram enacted by California regulators
in 2004, the 9th Circuit said.
“Plaintiffs contend that the MAA
has been superseded here, but we dis-
agree,” the ruling said.
The 9th Circuit also rejected the
argument that grazing must be restricted
or shut down because regional water
quality objectives haven’t been met.
It’s up to California regulators to
directly impose requirements on the
Forest Service and other entities, the
appellate court said.
Under state law, these objectives
are implemented by the regional water
board, “which can assess the problem as
a whole and in light of other competing
sources,” the ruling said. “It does not
assign that task to the federal courts.”
Devii Rao
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a law-
suit against grazing in a California national forest.
April storm improves 2022 NW water outlook, but drought remains
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
FOR MORE
DROUGHT-RELATED
STORIES SEE PAGES 4-5
A rare April snow storm swept
the Northwest this week, dumping
rain and snow across the region.
According to climatologists,
the blizzard-like cold front could
increase water supplies, slow
snow melt and lengthen the irri-
gation season in parts of the
Northwest.
The storm’s impacts, however,
will vary by region, and experts
predict drought will persist.
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Washington
State climatologist Nick Bond
said irrigators will benefit from
April’s storm, but it comes “too
little, too late.”
“It certainly helps, but it
won’t be enough to terminate the
drought,” said Bond.
Washington’s western half is in
Daffodils are illuminated in the morning snow along SW Shevlin
Hixon Drive on Monday in Bend. This week’s snowfall and heavy rains
have improved the water outlook in the region.
good condition.
But according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration, in eastern Washington it
would take 97% to 262% of nor-
mal precipitation levels over the
next two months to ameliorate
the drought and 159% to 368% of
normal precipitation to end it — a
tall order either way.
One positive storm impact,
Bond said, is that it “puts the
breaks” on snow melt. Snow had
been melting off the mountains a
few weeks earlier than average —
bad timing for irrigators.
Water supplies look good,
Bond said, through the Columbia
River and Yakima River Basin.
Farmers will face tighter sup-
plies in the Walla Walla Basin,
Upper Okanagan and watersheds
in the Northcentral and Northeast
portions of the state.
Dryland wheat growers and
livestock ranchers will likely suf-
fer, Bond said.
See Drought, Page 11