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Holly Dillemuth / JPR News /
Originally published on June 2, 2021 8:15 am
Rising tensions in the Klamath Basin could come to a boil soon, as two Klamath Project farmers plan to breach the fenced headgates of the federal irrigation project’s main canal and try to release water, likely triggering a standoff with the federal government.
Farmers Grant Knoll and Dan Nielsen bought property next to the headgates in April for $30,000 and have set up camp on the site. They are staffing a large canvas tent with volunteers from the local branch of People’s Rights, a national organization formed in 2020 by militant activist Ammon Bundy, and they’re trying to rally support.
https://twitter.com/Weather West/status/1398006983387533313?s=20 Weather.com: The last exceptional drought in California was January, 2017, on the tail end of a multi-year drought. It was considered the worst in parts of the state in 450 years.California's Sierra snowpack typically supplies about one-third of the state's water once it melts later in spring and summer, recharging the state's reservoirs.In 2021, a…
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/us/klamath-oregon-water-drought-bundy.html
Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in California, near the Oregon border, has been severely affected by the drought and the lack of irrigation waters from Upper Klamath Lake, which usually feeds into the refuge.Credit.Will Matsuda for The New York Times
Amid Historic Drought, a New Water War in the West
A drought crisis has erupted in the Klamath Basin along the California-Oregon border, with fish dying en masse and farmers infuriated that they have been cut off from their main water source.
Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in California, near the Oregon border, has been severely affected by the drought and the lack of irrigation waters from Upper Klamath Lake, which usually feeds into the refuge.Credit.Will Matsuda for The New York Times
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. A group of Klamath Falls farmers is becoming activists this spring, as they fight for water rights. They’ve now purchased the property and are setting up shop right next to the headgates of the “A” Canal.
The two landowners and project irrigators have set up an encampment. They say they aren’t leaving until the “A” Canal headgates are opened.
Last week this 40 by 80 canvas tent popped up out of nowhere on Nevada Street in Klamath Falls. Dan Nielsen and Grant Knoll, both landowners and project irrigators are the brains behind the operation.
“We bought this property just so we could set this camp up, we’ve just been slowly but surely getting more things set up just trying to educate people here,” said Nielsen.