Dear Colleagues,
Please join us Friday, November 20th at 3:00 in the Hatfield Room for our ninth Faculty Colloquium of this semester. Treats will be provided.
Don Negri, Professor of Economics
Title: Water Conflict in the Klamath Basin
Abstract:
The Klamath Basin in Southern Oregon has been the site of conflict over water resources for more than a decade. The Basin is a microcosm of the conflict over water scarcity that plagues the western US. The conflict is as much about clashing cultures as it is about insufficient water. The Basin is home to four Native American Tribes, four wildlife refuges and a federal irrigation project that provides water to approximately 210,000 acres of farmland. In the 1990’s the Endangered Species Act listed two fish species in the basin that made agricultural water supplies susceptible to cutbacks especially in drought years. Also during the 90’s the Confederated Klamath Tribes began to assert their historical water rights magnifying the threat to agricultural production in the region. Then in 2001, the conflict erupted into violence as the federal government mandated the water supply head gates be closed to protect endangered fish. Since that time the battle over water allocation in the basin has be waged in Congress and the courts with no end in sight.
Please feel free to invite students to attend this talk.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Doreen Simonsen and Bobby Brewer-Wallin
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators