08/15/05 Klamath Basin payments

The Klamath Basin of Oregon and California is still recovering from the aftermath of the 2001 water shutoff, and in ways perhaps growers and ranchers there did not perceive. For example, even with the shutoff occurring four years ago, producers are still struggling to make ends meet because of similar water concerns, whether man made or based in Mother Nature. SIMON: From day one to day two you don't know if they are going to have water the next day available. Farmers are becoming more dependable on government programs. Back fifty, sixty years ago the farmers weren't coming into the office and applying for some of our programs, but now farmers actually use it in their budget processing to figure out how much money they are going to get from government programs to help them get through the year. That's Jennifer Simon. She's the Executive Director of the Klamath County Oregon Farm Service Agency. And she says one way the government has helped out is through various stewardship programs, which have served a dual purpose. It has allowed growers and ranchers to receive government payments for various conservation efforts, and in turn save precious water for use another day by all stakeholders in the Klamath. SIMON: One of our programs, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, actually pays farmers to take some of the land along streams out of production. And if you're not running your cattle right along the stream, you're not getting some of the sediment run off into the creek. In return, we give them the annual rental payment. Currently, we have under 1, 600 acres enrolled and we have numerous inquiries from about twenty to thirty more producers to enroll land into that program. But perhaps the biggest boost has come from recent payments made by the federal government to Klamath area producers for crop losses due to the 2001 shut off. SIMON: And Klamath County just paid out $2.7 million dollars in the last six months for the losses back in 2001. And that little bit of money, sometimes up to $80,000 dollars a farmer, was a tremendous boost for them even three years later. So the payments help. But many a grower and producer will say they would prefer being able to make a living on their own. But to do that in the Klamath, they need water, which has been harder to come by. But steps are being taken to make sure all parties get their fair share. That includes new approaches to conservation, and continued legal battles to ensure the water remains available to all stakeholders, current and future. The details on all that will be covered in our next program.