Monday, July 2, 2018

Liz Writes Life 6-26-18


June 26, 2018

Liz Writes Life
Published in Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

Roses! I forgot to mention the two very hardy rose bushes that also bloom in my not-very-good-soil flower garden. I purchased them 17 years ago at Ray’s grocery store in Etna. They were cheap at just $7.99 each. Didn’t really know what I was getting, but both have survived the rocky ground and sometimes significant snows in winter that have broken them down. I don’t prune them very often, except to take the dead stems out and trim off the old bloom stems. One is a deep red with wonderful rose fragrance. The other doesn’t have as much rose smell, but the color starts a deep orange-pink blending to pinkish yellow. The blooms glow in the afternoon sun!

The wild roses keep trying to come back, but I have worked to stop them. The 12 coreopsis that I transplanted inside the fence, last year, are over three-feet tall and blooming lots of yellow flowers right now. The orange day lilies started blooming and the comfrey needs to be cut back. I use the big leaves for mulch.

Wow, it was hot on Sunday! Yep, summer is here and the plants are really starting to grow. There are two blossoms on a zucchini and the cucumbers are about ready to fall over and start spreading. Oh, when I put the cages around the tomato plants, I found an inch-wide green tomato along with some blooms. There is hope!

Disaster

An unprecedented disaster is facing Siskiyou and Klamath Counties. Last Tuesday, Jim Smith, Siskiyou Co. Ag. Commissioner, Elizabeth Nielsen, Siskiyou Co. Natural Resources Policy Specialist, and Mike Mallory, Siskiyou Co. Assessor/Recorder, spoke at the Siskiyou Co. Supervisors’ meeting sharing staggering costs that will affect both counties if the irrigation water is shut-off to the Klamath Reclamation Project in July. There are well-over 1,200 farmers in the project consisting of over 220,000 acres. Jim also owns 400 acres in the Tulelake area of the project and will be affected, so he knows his stuff -- inside and out.

If you missed the board meeting, you have another chance to learn specifically what is going on with the lawsuit by the Klamath Tribes that could stop all irrigation water – which is also a legal water right for project farmers. Jim gave a presentation to the supervisors and will give it again tonight at the Yreka Tea Party meeting. The meet is held at the Covenant Chapel Church on 200 Greenhorn Rd. in Yreka. Time is 6:30 p.m. It is worth attending.

This is worse than the 2001 water shut-off by the Bureau of Reclamation due to the Biological Opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake and Lost River. It was terribly devastating, but the farmers knew on April 1st they would not receive their legal allotted water. Most did not plant crops; or they had wells or drilled wells to be able to irrigate.

This year, some water was promised, but it wasn’t for the entire legal amount and it was shut-off in April and major parts of May and June. Crops are struggling. Many farmers obtain contracts with companies like Frito Lay to grow potatoes and get bank loans to meet their costs. Yep, with no water coming in crops will die. The double-whammy of not meeting contracts and falling short on bank loans is heart-wrenching.

Jim said that potatoes and onions will take the biggest hit. Severe impacts in production and quality will also hit hay and grain. Most of the farms in Siskiyou Co. are operated by families. They are not big corporations. It will be devastating for these family farms. Jim put together costs to the county in taxes, the economy and communities.

“Total impacts will be incalculable,” he told me.

But, the loss of direct payment of taxes to the county will be around $400,000. Not good. Remember, Ray Haupt, chairman of the supervisors’ board, reported the county’s next-year budget is $1 million short.

Believe it or not, agriculture is a $278 million economy in Siskiyou County. Tulelake agriculture is a significant portion of that industry.  And, Jim explains, for every 1,200 jobs in agriculture at least 700 more are generated in related businesses. Also for every dollar generated by the agriculture industry, another 91 cents is generated in the community.

In Oregon, the Klamath Co. Commissioners have estimated the man-made drought could cost $557 million or more and close to 4,500 jobs will be lost.

On July 13, 2018, a judge will rule if the Klamath Tribes demand for more water storage in the Upper Klamath Lake for sucker fish will trump legal water designated for the farmers in the federal Klamath Reclamation Project. The Klamath Water District, in the project, is scrambling and has filed their legal claim on the stored water. Tensions are running high.

Smart Meters

Citizens Betty Kreeger and Vicki Gold and engineer John Hill will present information on their research about the dangers of Smart Meters that Pacific Power are putting in throughout Siskiyou Co. on June 30th at the Mount Shasta Library at 515 E. Alma Street. Time is 6 p.m.

POW meets

Scott Valley Protect Our Water will meet this Thursday, June 28, 2018 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m. Erin Ryan, staff to Congressman Doug LaMalfa, will have lots to share. She has been attending meetings in Klamath Falls, where Alan Mikkelsen, the Deputy Commissioner of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, and the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp. are working on plans to fix the water fiasco. At the meeting on June 18, 2018, Erin asked if the farmers are going to get any water? There was no real response. And, once again, no plan was even framed. Makes one wonder what is really going on behind the scenes.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515. Check out her blog at: LizWritesLife.blogspot.com

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