Ranchers above Upper Klamath Lake are coping with a dry summer, and a shut-off of irrigation water…
Eric Duarte is one of about 200 off-project irrigators who had their irrigation water shut off this spring…along with a shut-off of income.
“It looks like we’re going to be working for free this year.”
Exercising their senior water rights, the Klamath Tribes made a ‘call’ for the shut-off in early June…claiming they needed it to protect fish downstream.
Without water to grow crops to feed his cattle, Duarte is having to sell that cattle early…
“So we’re short cattle by about 650 head right now. Tomorrow, we’re shipping the final 350 out of here.”
Duarte adds that selling that cattle early comes at a high price…
“We’ve lost over 60 thousand dollars. I mean, that’s a pretty big chunk.”
And that’s money that won’t be going back into the local economy.
Duarte uses an artesian well for his family’s drinking water…but some wells in the area have run dry, and many ranchers have no water at all…
“They get all their water off the river, and they’re dry.”
Duarte faces an uncertain future, and no guarantees there will be water next year…
“We’re going to have to make plans like we’re not going to have any irrigation water next year, so we might have to cut the cows down 30, 40 percent.”
Duarte notes that even though his income is down, his mortgage is still due, and bills are still coming in.
You may remember Eric Duarte from a story we did back in June, just after the water had been shut off.
Duarte was one of the main organizers of an agricultural rally that rolled through Klamath Falls on July first.
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