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
# # #
No comments:
Post a Comment