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Compensation suit report set for area farmers
Published March 7, 2003
By DYLAN DARLING
An attorney working to get compensation for farmers who were cut off from water in the Klamath Reclamation Project two years ago will visit Klamath Falls next week to report on his progress.
Roger Marzulla, who is pursuing the case through the U.S. Federal Court of Claims, will answer questions about the lawsuit at a meeting at Exhibition Hall A at the Klamath County Fairgrounds at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
It will be the second time Marzulla, who practices law in Washington, D.C., has come to the Basin.
His first visit was in July of 2001, and he was greeted by about 600 irrigators who wanted to find out how they could be compensated for the effects of being cut off from Klamath Project water so it could be used to help endangered sucker fish and threatened coho salmon.
"It's been a long time since he has been here, and he wants to bring people up to speed," said Mike Byrne, an irrigator named as a plaintiff in the case.
Byrne said there will be 700 chairs set up, and anybody with questions about the lawsuit should come.
The law firm recently amended its lawsuit, which is a takings suit claiming the government unlawfully took the private property of the irrigators when it didn't deliver water, Marzulla said.
The amendment claims the government broke its contracts with irrigators by withholding water they were entitled to use.
While the breach of contract amendment is moving through the Court of Claims, he said the lawyers are still waiting for a judge to make a decision on whether the initial takings lawsuit should be stayed until the completion of the adjudication of water in the Basin.
The judge has been weighing the decision since last July. The adjudication process has been going on for more than a decade.
Marzulla said the people involved with the case need to stick together despite the delays.
"I think it's going to take some serious effort to get this case over the top and to get a judgment for a payment for the water that was taken which the people are entitled to," he said.
William Ganong, a Klamath Falls attorney who is assisting with the lawsuit, said the federal government is doing everything it can to delay the lawsuit.
"We don't know what is happening - that is part of our frustration," he said.
He said the lawyers want to make the lawsuit a class action one, meaning people affected by the water cutoff other than the initial plaintiffs could file for damages, but need to wait for a decision in the case before they can do that.
While a damage claim will only be filed if the government is found liable, Marzulla estimates the damages could be more than $1 billion.
"It's really the value of all the land in the Klamath Project," he said.
Marzulla will be coming in Monday afternoon and he will leave early Wednesday morning.
During his time here he will also go on a tour of the Klamath Project and talk to board members from many irrigation districts.
This isn't the first time Marzulla's firm has been involved with irrigation water concerns.
In 2001 Marzulla & Marzulla, representing the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District and others in Central California, won a ruling in the Court of Claims over the government's taking of water for the protection of two endangered species - winter-run chinook salmon and delta smelt - that inhabit the Sacramento River.
The court is still in the process of determining how much the damages should be in that case.
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
By DYLAN DARLING
An attorney working to get compensation for farmers who were cut off from water in the Klamath Reclamation Project two years ago will visit Klamath Falls next week to report on his progress.
Roger Marzulla, who is pursuing the case through the U.S. Federal Court of Claims, will answer questions about the lawsuit at a meeting at Exhibition Hall A at the Klamath County Fairgrounds at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
It will be the second time Marzulla, who practices law in Washington, D.C., has come to the Basin.
His first visit was in July of 2001, and he was greeted by about 600 irrigators who wanted to find out how they could be compensated for the effects of being cut off from Klamath Project water so it could be used to help endangered sucker fish and threatened coho salmon.
"It's been a long time since he has been here, and he wants to bring people up to speed," said Mike Byrne, an irrigator named as a plaintiff in the case.
Byrne said there will be 700 chairs set up, and anybody with questions about the lawsuit should come.
The law firm recently amended its lawsuit, which is a takings suit claiming the government unlawfully took the private property of the irrigators when it didn't deliver water, Marzulla said.
The amendment claims the government broke its contracts with irrigators by withholding water they were entitled to use.
While the breach of contract amendment is moving through the Court of Claims, he said the lawyers are still waiting for a judge to make a decision on whether the initial takings lawsuit should be stayed until the completion of the adjudication of water in the Basin.
The judge has been weighing the decision since last July. The adjudication process has been going on for more than a decade.
Marzulla said the people involved with the case need to stick together despite the delays.
"I think it's going to take some serious effort to get this case over the top and to get a judgment for a payment for the water that was taken which the people are entitled to," he said.
William Ganong, a Klamath Falls attorney who is assisting with the lawsuit, said the federal government is doing everything it can to delay the lawsuit.
"We don't know what is happening - that is part of our frustration," he said.
He said the lawyers want to make the lawsuit a class action one, meaning people affected by the water cutoff other than the initial plaintiffs could file for damages, but need to wait for a decision in the case before they can do that.
While a damage claim will only be filed if the government is found liable, Marzulla estimates the damages could be more than $1 billion.
"It's really the value of all the land in the Klamath Project," he said.
Marzulla will be coming in Monday afternoon and he will leave early Wednesday morning.
During his time here he will also go on a tour of the Klamath Project and talk to board members from many irrigation districts.
This isn't the first time Marzulla's firm has been involved with irrigation water concerns.
In 2001 Marzulla & Marzulla, representing the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District and others in Central California, won a ruling in the Court of Claims over the government's taking of water for the protection of two endangered species - winter-run chinook salmon and delta smelt - that inhabit the Sacramento River.
The court is still in the process of determining how much the damages should be in that case.
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
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