Klamath Project Map, 1998

In 1902, Congress passed the Reclamation Act to provide funds to build dams, drain lakes and marshes, and dig canals to irrigate farm land in the West.  These projects were designed to “reclaim” arid land for human use.  This 1998 map shows the Klamath Water Project’s elaborate canal, tunnel, sump, and reservoir system which has had a natural, economic, and social impact on the Klamath Basin.

During the spring and summer of 2001, faculty from Oregon State University and the University of California Cooperative Extension studied the social consequences of the Klamath Basin water crisis, which was created by drought and the need to curtail irrigation water to protect endangered fish.  One study highlighted the physical and mental impact on the community.  Local doctors reported a general increase in stress related ailments in the community, such as heart attacks, kidney infections, hypertension, and bleeding ulcers.  According to the Klamath County Mental Clinic, many farmers needed anti-anxiety drugs or sleep medication.

To cope with the anxiety, the OSU-UC researchers explain, the Klamath community organized several responses to the crisis.  One group created and still maintains the website klamathbasincrisis.org to communicate their opinions and rally support for irrigation policy reform.  The Klamath Water Foundation was organized to raise money for legal cases, to lobby for an amendment of the Endangered Species Act to account for the impact on humans, and to put pressure on government officials to allow for the privatization of the Basin’s water delivery system.   The Klamath Relief Fund was created to provide financial relief and assistance to farmers and families of the Klamath Basin.

Written by Robery Donnelly, © Oregon Historical Society, 2003.