| GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Klamath Basin farmers who lost
their crops when water was diverted from irrigation to endangered fish
planned to drop out of federal mediation to solve the conflict, a group
spokesman said Wednesday.
The Klamath Water Users Association, which represents more than 1, 000
farms on the Oregon-California border, was also ending its lawsuit
demanding that deliveries be restored.
The mediation began after a federal judge rejected the farmers' plea
last spring. Association Chairman Don Russell said Wednesday the process
was " going nowhere."
" We' re the only ones at the table that lost everything, "
he said.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation decided last April to divert water
from the 200, 000-acre Klamath Project irrigation project, citing a
drought and new Endangered Species Act demands for water to maintain
endangered suckers and threatened coho salmon.
Limited deliveries resumed after protesters forced open headgates and
summer rains brought unexpected water, but the move came too late for most
farms.
Agricultural losses were estimated at more than $200 million. Russell
said his group was deciding whether to go forward with another lawsuit
seeking damages from the federal government. |