Contested Water Rights in the Klamath Basin

Veronica Dujon, Principal Investigator (PI)
dujonv@pdx.edu
503-725-8503

Funded by Portland State University

Consultants: Southern Oregon University, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Klamath Basin Ecosystem Foundation and a ranching representative

This project serves to gather preliminary data with various stakeholder groups in Oregon’s Klamath Basin as a initial phase to support a larger research project that analyzes the water resource conflict in the Basin from a sociological perspective.

The conflict over scarce water resources in the Klamath Basin among ranchers, farmers (some of whom are Native American), environmentalists and the Klamath Tribes has seemed insurmountable in spite of various attempts at mediation. Theses groups have very different meanings associated with land which are directly related to how these groups define themselves. Competition over scarce resources has commonly converted these divergent perspectives into intense conflict. These conflicts are further fueled by diverse national interests that have invested effort and resources in attempts to influence the outcome because the Klamath case serves as a symbol of their causes. Each group is inclined to frame the problem in ways that legitimize its interests and cast the opposition as being unjust or unreasonable. Recently, the Klamath Watershed Conference achieved some success in bringing together stakeholders to discuss diverse views and perspectives

The Klamath Basin represents the kind of resource conflicts typical in the western states; the symbolism that such conflicts hold at the national level; as well the attachment that people in rural areas develop for the landscapes they create. The presence of long term residents, Native American and white settlers, some of whom are from multiple generations; identified, organized and accessible stakeholder groups representative of ecological and environmental justice paradigms; property rights advocacy; and an underlying treadmill of production capture all the key elements that struggle to define what values are legitimate to assign scarce natural resources. This project also provides an opportunity to understand how national and state interests impact the local level, and how local responses in turn, shape outcomes that have national policy implications.

By investigating whether or not the emotional and cultural attachments to place can be harnessed to socially reconstruct visions of place in the future, this research offers an invaluable contribution to enhancing understanding of the conditions that may lead people to make social and economic adjustments to manage resources in a more sustainable manner in times of scarcity. In addition, it provides an opportunity to enhance decision-making, collaboration and the development of policies leading to improved conflict resolution and water management, both regionally and nationally.