Malin Oregon, on the Oregon-California border,
is a little country town of 700 people. It consists mainly farm
workers and retired folks at the edge of the Klamath Basin, surrounded
by farmland and ranches devastated by the 2001 water cut-off. So what’s
the problem?
When the USFWS and NMFS sued to take the stored
irrigation water from the farmers, a federal judge ordered all of the
water from the Klamath Irrigation Project to stay in the flooding
Klamath Lake for the endangered sucker fish, or else flow into the
ocean at historic high levels for the coho salmon, which had record
runs this year. This deprived Klamath Basin farmers of water for
agriculture, and the refuges, canals, and fields of water for wildlife
and waterfowl.
Neighbors were forced to drill wells, and the
State of California granted the Tulelake California Irrigation
District $6 million to drill agricultural wells.
Come August, when TID’s #6 well, within a mile
of Malin, began pumping, Malin’s city well became debilitated. They
have 2 other wells: a relatively new one, drilled in 1936 which became
totally incapacitated, and a very old one, which will pump a little
water still, but the quality is very poor. So when the town of Malin
became waterless, TID turned off the pump since it was not yet being
used to keep crops alive.
At this time, the Malin well is only pumping 200
gallons of water per minute—barely enough to keep the town supplied
with household water supplies, and accommodate the school, churches
and businesses. Due to the lack of water in the canals, and neighbors
pumping ag wells, there was not enough water to water lawns, plants
and gardens last summer. With the TID well pumping, within 9 hours,
there is no CLEAN water in Malin for grandmothers to drink and babies
to bathe. Fortunately, when water was briefly restored into the
canals, several of the shallow domestic wells were recharged.
Historically water has always been in the Klamath Basin, either in the
lake covering the basin, or with the Klamath Project diverted into
ditches, canals and lakes. Last year it got pumped into Klamath Lake
or the ocean, impacting the wildlife, crops, and aquifer.
We are told by the government agencies and
environmental groups that we are mistakenly paranoid about the United
Nations ‘Rural Cleansing’ agenda designed to force rural folks
into the cities, but are we? Klamath Lake was at flood level this
summer, coho salmon were so abundant that they were served to the
wounded farm community Saturday, January 12, 2002, the suckers are
flourishing, yet the Endangered Species Act, with no regard to the
science, community’s health and safety, environmental or economical
impacts, was used to take water from irrigators, ranchers, and our
refuges in the Pacific Flyway. Several farmers had to get farm loans
to drill deep agricultural wells and pump water onto their fields and
into the USFW refuge to keep crops and wildlife alive, drying up
domestic wells. The American Land Conservancy is trying to buy our
land to make it government property. Our fields were parched and
filled with weeds, our WWII homesteaders with ‘permanent water
rights’ were betrayed, families took children from local schools to
move with their families ‘somewhere’ to find work and a home, 3rd
and 4th generation farmers and ranchers were forced into
bankruptcies and held auctions, and the town well is being sucked dry.
Is the answer for Malin to drill deeper, with no
studies on the replenishing ability of their aquifer. If their water
table drops 50 feet with only hours of well pumping, is there really
more water where that came from?
And this is not just a ‘Malin’ problem. Over
155 wells in the Klamath Basin have gone dry or become disabled this
year, causing severe health and safety issues, and forcing families to
move from their homes. Many wells have developed coliform bacteria.
Yes, drive through Malin. These patriotic
families still wave the American flag. They still have trust and hope
in America, and believe in the American dream. Should they?