The Educational Solutions List of Solutions to Klamath River Basin Water Issues

Click HERE to view the complied list.

The goal of Educational Solutions (ES), a Klamath Falls nonprofit, is to present a forum for informed, fair civil discussion about Klamath River Basin Water Issues, by Basin youth and the community at large.

We who live in the Klamath River Basin recognize it as a place of unsurpassed natural beauty as the Klamath River runs from snowy peaks in Southern Oregon to its Pacific Ocean mouth in California. We have no large cities or traffic snarls. We are a chain of unique rural communities dependent upon the Klamath River: sovereign Native American tribes, family farms and ranches, as well as fishing communities along the river and the ocean coast.

As currently managed, there is not enough water in the Klamath River Basin to sustain the demands of all the stakeholder groups. During the drought of Summer 2001, the federal government shut off irrigation to 1,200 Upper Basin farmers to protect three species of fish listed as threatened/endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 2002, well over 35,000 adult salmon (mostly Chinook) died in the Lower Klamath River, threatening a major food source of Native American tribes and interfering with tribal tradition. In 2006, because of low predicted Chinook salmon returns to the Klamath River, commercial and recreational salmon fishing was closed, impacting the livelihood of fishing communities along more than 700 miles of the Pacific Coast. All three groups feel their survival is threatened. Agriculture and fish compete for limited water resources. Other Basin groups are also concerned about water quantity and quality, including recreational fishing.

ES honors the courage of the Basin stakeholder leaders over the past six years. They have spent hours and hours of discussion working toward equitable solutions. Real progress has been made as more and more leaders have come to recognize that Basin-wide solutions are necessary if we are to sustain individual communities. However, the general public and Basin youth need to understand the issues, the possible solutions, and the progress to date. ES wants to inspire Basin youth to participate in implementing solutions to poor water quality, insufficient water quantity and related problems.

Over the last three years, Educational Solutions has worked with Klamath Basin stakeholder leaders and Basin school districts to develop a high school dialogue project, Sharing the Klamath River Watershed: Bringing Together the Next Generation of Stakeholders.

ES is committed to presenting the constructive ideas of all the major stakeholder groups. To further this goal, ES surveyed stakeholder representatives for solutions to the water problems in the Klamath Basin. Based on interviews with Native Americans, farmers, ranchers, fishermen, representatives of government agencies and local governments as well as relevant publications, ES developed and categorized a preliminary list of solutions.

Click HERE to view the complied list.

The business women of Soroptimist International of Klamath Falls were the first to review our list and suggest additions. In November 2006, the revised list was presented to attendees at the Klamath Watershed Conference in Redding, California. Some 47 individuals from different Basin communities identified those solutions they found of interest and suggested additional solutions. (Klamath Watershed Conference results are available at here. ES held further discussions with stakeholders at the conference and afterwards, incorporating the new information into the list below.

ES gathered and categorized this list of solutions for use in the curriculum of the high school dialogue project and for use by the Basin community. Before releasing this list to the public for Internet discussion on the ES Website and incorporating it into the high school project, we are distributing it for further stakeholder consideration. Please note there is some repetition as the same solutions can solve different problems. We would be grateful if you would read the solutions and email your comments to Judith Jensen, Director, Educational Solutions.