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The H&N view
Make Barnes Ranch prove it's worth buying
Published Tuesday-March 4, 2003
With regard to the purchase of the Barnes Ranch, the Klamath County commissioners should take this position:
The taxes are due. When paid, the taxes will be placed in an escrow account. The escrow account will be released to the owner of the property once the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation counts 50,000 acre-feet of storage from the ranch as the first deposit in any water bank required of Klamath Basin agriculture.
Faced with open-ended demands for concessions, Basin farmers have argued that they get no credit for any actions they have taken to improve water quality or to make more water available for fish. Getting the federal government to count the Barnes Ranch purchase toward the water bank would be a small step toward getting credit.
The Bureau plans to spend $4 million this year to pay farmers to idle cropland and to pay for groundwater. This will reduce agriculture's demand for water by about 50,000 acre-feet.
That is, coincidentally, the same amount of water storage that the American Land Conservancy says the Barnes Ranch purchase would allow the Bureau to realize when the management of the Barnes Ranch is combined with the next-door Agency Lake Ranch.
The purchase of the Barnes Ranch will cost $9 million, a one-time expense.
Establishing the 50,000 acre-foot water bank would cost $4 million a year. And the Bureau plans to raise the demand for a water bank to 75,000 acre-feet next year and 100,000 acre-feet the year after that. Crediting the Barnes Ranch purchase toward the water bank would give farmers some credit, and save the Bureau some money.
The two quantities of 50,000 acre-feet are not the same in hydrology and irrigation practices. But they are close enough to give the Klamath County commissioners a chip to be played smartly.
Before that can happen, though, the Bureau has to answer some questions raised in a Feb. 24 commentary by Doug Whitsett in the Herald and News about how much storage the Barnes Ranch actually would yield, and whether a storage and pumping regimen might increase phosphorus levels in Upper Klamath Lake. Years ago,the Bureau misjudged the capacity of the Agency Lake Ranch and needs to be dead certain with this purchase. Then it needs to give Basin agriculture credit for giving ground.
The "H&N view" represents the opinion of the newspaper's editorial board, which consists of Publisher John Walker, Editor Tim Fought, City Editor Todd Kepple and Opinion Editor Pat Bushey. Fought wrote today's editorial.
Published Tuesday-March 4, 2003
With regard to the purchase of the Barnes Ranch, the Klamath County commissioners should take this position:
The taxes are due. When paid, the taxes will be placed in an escrow account. The escrow account will be released to the owner of the property once the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation counts 50,000 acre-feet of storage from the ranch as the first deposit in any water bank required of Klamath Basin agriculture.
Faced with open-ended demands for concessions, Basin farmers have argued that they get no credit for any actions they have taken to improve water quality or to make more water available for fish. Getting the federal government to count the Barnes Ranch purchase toward the water bank would be a small step toward getting credit.
The Bureau plans to spend $4 million this year to pay farmers to idle cropland and to pay for groundwater. This will reduce agriculture's demand for water by about 50,000 acre-feet.
That is, coincidentally, the same amount of water storage that the American Land Conservancy says the Barnes Ranch purchase would allow the Bureau to realize when the management of the Barnes Ranch is combined with the next-door Agency Lake Ranch.
The purchase of the Barnes Ranch will cost $9 million, a one-time expense.
Establishing the 50,000 acre-foot water bank would cost $4 million a year. And the Bureau plans to raise the demand for a water bank to 75,000 acre-feet next year and 100,000 acre-feet the year after that. Crediting the Barnes Ranch purchase toward the water bank would give farmers some credit, and save the Bureau some money.
The two quantities of 50,000 acre-feet are not the same in hydrology and irrigation practices. But they are close enough to give the Klamath County commissioners a chip to be played smartly.
Before that can happen, though, the Bureau has to answer some questions raised in a Feb. 24 commentary by Doug Whitsett in the Herald and News about how much storage the Barnes Ranch actually would yield, and whether a storage and pumping regimen might increase phosphorus levels in Upper Klamath Lake. Years ago,the Bureau misjudged the capacity of the Agency Lake Ranch and needs to be dead certain with this purchase. Then it needs to give Basin agriculture credit for giving ground.
The "H&N view" represents the opinion of the newspaper's editorial board, which consists of Publisher John Walker, Editor Tim Fought, City Editor Todd Kepple and Opinion Editor Pat Bushey. Fought wrote today's editorial.
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