Watering the Balance by Not Tipping the Scales
 
Petey Brucker - Program Coordinator, SRRC


  I’ve heard it said that whiskey is for drinking and water is
for fighting over. Here in the West, where the summers are very dry, the
westward expanders quickly figured out ways to develop the available
water as fast as possible through complex systems of dams, canals,
ditches, and pipes. Not a drop should be wasted, still echoes in the
halls of Congress. One product of the developers feeding frenzy is the
lack of understanding of how much water is each using, how much water is
there, and how fast do the sources recharge. This has often lead to not
enough water to go around, particularly in the drought years. This can
cause turmoil between neighbors in their communities and watersheds in
the Klamath Basin and elsewhere in the U.S. The Klamath Basin conflict
over the water is paramount nationally, causing the President to appoint
a cabinet level Task Force. This is the only time a river has received
this highest level of attention. Currently, the Klamath is being used as
a demonstration project for water management in the nation, as
articulated by Bennet Raley, a Department of Interior under secretary,
in the 2003 Sacramento Town Meeting, sponsored by the Administration as
they kicked off their Water 2025 Program. Some have noted that part of
this new program, in the Klamath River in particular, is how to
privatize the water; such as the Klamath Water Bank.

At the local level does it merely boil down to reading the tea leaves
after the cup is drained to look to the future, or do we want to manage
the water resources in a way that more fairly shares the water amongst
neighboring interests and helps insure care of the other life forms and
other natural conditions? To try and achieve the second choice folks in
some areas have employed what is called a Water Balance, balancing the
needs of all with what is available.

How would we go about creating a Water Balance? The first step is to
identify that people want to do this. I would guess that the non-human
native populations in the water equation would appreciate this. Second
we need to determine how much water there is to share the current amount
in the system (springs, streams, rivers, and lakes) and the rate of
recharge of these water sources. Third we need to calculate how much
water each use (human and non-human) wants, needs, and/or is entitled
to. There are legal mandates
(water rights laws, Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act) and
some moral imperatives shared amongst us (caring about each other and
the natural systems needs).

Here in the Salmon River a largely snow-pack and snowmelt water type 
drainage, although it is not thought to have large water withdrawals and
of diversions, compared with areas like the Scott, Shasta, and Upper Basin,
water is still a finite resource. There is only so much to go around. In
2001, one of the driest years on record, many of us experience very low
water flows in the streams and rivers and in our own yards. No doubt
there has always been droughts, and we are in a time period of dry years
and the long range forecast is 2-5 degrees hotter globally, which at
least would translate to less snow pack.
Currently several areas of the forest have unnatural overcrowding in the
understory, largely due to removing the benefits of wildfires from the
equation, starting about 80 years ago. Without this natural forest
thinning and forest health, we see many trees dying. How long the Salmon
River Watershed’s snowpack lasts may have been altered.

The SRRC, with it’s goal to involve everyone in trying to help improve
this watershed’s aquatic, riparian, terrestrial systems, is looking at
ways to improve water management and related conditions in our homes and
businesses throughout the Salmon River. Water management, including
diversions with fish passage features, fire and fuels, noxious weed
control, roads upgrading, and several other aspects of management in the
Salmon River all related to the water balance. In this Newsletter we are
providing your with various updates and opportunities available to you
to better understand Hydro-Logics and better balance the water on our
own use and collectively. If you are interested in more information,
getting involved or have any questions please let us know.

Salmon River Restoration Council
PO Box 1089
Sawyers Bar, CA  96027
530-462-4665 Voice
530-462-4664 Fax

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