Siskiyou County Modoc County U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Klamath River Basin

Because of the irrigation, approximately 225,000 acres of rangeland have been transformed into productive farmland. Agriculture is the backbone of the Klamath community with principal crops including barley, alfalfa hay, oats, potatoes and wheat. In addition, project reservoirs offer many recreational activities such as boating, water skiing, fishing, hunting and camping.

On April 6, 2001, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that the Klamath Project would receive no water this year - the first time that water has been cut off. This action was in response to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) biological opinion, which, under the Endangered Species Act, called for increased reservoir levels for the Shortnose and Lost River Sucker Fish.

The decision to take all water from farms, ranches and wildlife refuges was made despite several conflicting biological studies on the sucker fish, their population and the factors that affect them.

The impacts of this decision have been devastating to the communities in the Klamath River Basin. By cutting off the water supply, the FWS decision has desimated the Klamath Basin's economic base. It is estimated that the economic impact to the Klamath base will total $400 million including:

• Bankruptcies and massive unemployment;
• Perennial crops damaged beyond repair;
• Decrease in property values; and
• Loss of revenue for schools, fire departments, libraries, parks, churches and city and county governments.

There are also several environmental impacts:

• Loss of Klamath Basin wildlife habitat;
• Thousands of species denied water, food and shelter; and
• 185 miles of canal ecosystem and 516 miles of drainage canal ecosystem damaged.

Without the water that the Klamath Project provides, the community and the entire ecosystem of Klamath will wither.