Basin Geography
The Klamath River Basin is located in the Eastern parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon. The upper portion of the basin lies partially in the arid Great Basin region of South Eastern Oregon and partly in the eastern Cascades. The Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge complex and much of the farmlands are located in the Upper Basin. The climate in the Upper Klamath Basin varies with changes in elevation, but it is typically dry with precipitation falling in the winter season (Taylor and Bartlett 1993). Average annual precipitation in the lower basin is 14 inches, but can reach as high as 100 inches in some areas of the Eastern Cascades Muedeking 2008).The largest water feature is Klamath Lake, which is approximately 270 square …show more content…
The American Indian Tribes residing in the upper basin known as the Klamath Tribes have had their homeland shrunk to a fraction of its former size until the federal government disbanded the tribes entirely during the period of forced assimilation (Most 2006). The reservation that was once home to Klamath Tribe was 1.9 million acres and contained Klamath Marsh, which is now a wildlife refuge and Winema National Forest (Wilson 2010). It is easy to imagine the reaction of settlers moving through arid eastern Oregon and finding the vast lakes and marshes of the Klamath Basin, thinking it an oasis ripe for settlement. The geographic isolation of the basin aided it in staving off Euro American influence during much of the gold rush era, though inevitable settlement occurred (Most 2008). Conflicts with Native American tribes occurred occasionally over resources and differing cultural perspectives on property rights (Kittredge Blake and Blake …show more content…
In times of drought irrigators received priority in water allocation because of prevailing policies and normative values at the time, the Klamath Wildlife Refuges and the Salmon received the leftover water that which was not need for irrigation (Tarlock 2007). In 2001, the UFWS issued biological opinion reports that stated that due to the severe drought, water levels in both the Upper Klamath and Lower Klamath must be maintained at higher levels to preserve the Coho Salmon and the Short nose and Lost River Suckers. As a result of the mandate for increased water flows for fish, water to irrigators was cut off and the farming communities suffered economic damages. The political backlash against the federal government was considerable from the farming community. The cut offs were perceived as attacks not only on the Klamath project irrigators, but on irrigated agriculture in the United States as a whole. The Secretary of the Interior flew to the Klamath on the first day of irrigation the following year to show his support for irrigators and to open the valves to the irrigation canal (Gosnell and Kelly 2010). That year was also a drought year and low river flow below the dams resulted in a fish die off of 80,000
The Klamath River Basin is located in the Eastern parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon. The upper portion of the basin lies partially in the arid Great Basin region of South Eastern Oregon and partly in the eastern Cascades. The Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge complex and much of the farmlands are located in the Upper Basin. The climate in the Upper Klamath Basin varies with changes in elevation, but it is typically dry with precipitation falling in the winter season (Taylor and Bartlett 1993). Average annual precipitation in the lower basin is 14 inches, but can reach as high as 100 inches in some areas of the Eastern Cascades Muedeking 2008).The largest water feature is Klamath Lake, which is approximately 270 square …show more content…
The American Indian Tribes residing in the upper basin known as the Klamath Tribes have had their homeland shrunk to a fraction of its former size until the federal government disbanded the tribes entirely during the period of forced assimilation (Most 2006). The reservation that was once home to Klamath Tribe was 1.9 million acres and contained Klamath Marsh, which is now a wildlife refuge and Winema National Forest (Wilson 2010). It is easy to imagine the reaction of settlers moving through arid eastern Oregon and finding the vast lakes and marshes of the Klamath Basin, thinking it an oasis ripe for settlement. The geographic isolation of the basin aided it in staving off Euro American influence during much of the gold rush era, though inevitable settlement occurred (Most 2008). Conflicts with Native American tribes occurred occasionally over resources and differing cultural perspectives on property rights (Kittredge Blake and Blake …show more content…
In times of drought irrigators received priority in water allocation because of prevailing policies and normative values at the time, the Klamath Wildlife Refuges and the Salmon received the leftover water that which was not need for irrigation (Tarlock 2007). In 2001, the UFWS issued biological opinion reports that stated that due to the severe drought, water levels in both the Upper Klamath and Lower Klamath must be maintained at higher levels to preserve the Coho Salmon and the Short nose and Lost River Suckers. As a result of the mandate for increased water flows for fish, water to irrigators was cut off and the farming communities suffered economic damages. The political backlash against the federal government was considerable from the farming community. The cut offs were perceived as attacks not only on the Klamath project irrigators, but on irrigated agriculture in the United States as a whole. The Secretary of the Interior flew to the Klamath on the first day of irrigation the following year to show his support for irrigators and to open the valves to the irrigation canal (Gosnell and Kelly 2010). That year was also a drought year and low river flow below the dams resulted in a fish die off of 80,000