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Methow
Valley News July 1, 1999 Endangered Species Coverage Publisher's comment ~ by Lee Hicks Was this really necessary? The sad truth that strikes many people in the current water situation is the apparent waste of a precious natural resource. In one of the heaviest runoff years in decades, irrigators were forced to keep their headgates closed. Water that could have nourished rancher crops and recharged the reservoir water supply for the Valley’s largest employer instead washed down basin tributaries on its way to the Columbia. We’re asked to believe that wasting the water has been a good thing, that it had to be done while drafting plans to protect endangered fish. Unfortunately, though, water that might have brought extra dollars into the Valley’s economy through farm employment and crop revenues cannot be recaptured. Some of that same water might have been returned to the groundwater aquifer and back to the stream through irrigation runoff. And Sun Mountain Lodge might not be answering calls from concerned future guests over whether the lodge will be open for a visit later this summer. (Or whether the lodge is now open for that matter). This will likely mean more dollars potentially lost to the local economy. It will take a time to dispel the image that the Valley is out of water. But considerable damage has been done in the near-term. Was all this necessary? Probably not. Was there any substantive reason to shut irrigation diversions on Forest Service land--other than to get our attention? Why did National Marine Fisheries Service ignore the Forest Service’s requests regarding biological assessments for diversion permits, thereby apparently violating federal regulations and precipitating the early stage of this water crisis? Why--after many promises--has NMFS (as of Monday) not yet issued "biological opinions" on the federal water diversions? The only thing certain now is that there are more questions than answers.
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