The Klamath River Basin of Oregon and California has become famous for conflict.  Farmers and ranchers compete with Native Americans, commercial salmon fishermen, and conservationists over scarce water: “farms vs. fish.”  Years of stakeholder negotiations led to the signing of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) on February 18, 2010. 

“Vision of the River” features Klamath Basin stakeholders, scientists and high school students.  This documentary tells the story: the early watershed, human impacts, the three disasters, conflict to dialogue, possible solutions to watershed problems, the KBRA signing and challenges to implementation of this agreement.

This documentary provides the social context for two 2011 documentaries: “Sustaining Salmon:  Bringing C. shasta Back into Balance” and “Saving Salmon:  Fishermen, Scientists and Project CROOS”.  The Klamath Basin water conflict provided much of the funding rationale for C. shasta research projects and Project CROOS. 

Articles recommended by Ron Larson, Ph.D., USFWS, Klamath Falls OR