71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
 LC 4265
 
                           A-Engrossed
 
                        Senate Memorial 2
                   Ordered by the Senate May 2
             Including Senate Amendments dated May 2
 
Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON RULES AND REDISTRICTING
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
 
    { - Urges - }   { + Requests + } United States
 { - Secretary of Agriculture to declare natural resources
disaster - }   { + Government to provide aid and support to
family farmers + } in Klamath   { - County - }  { +  Basin + }.
 
                         SENATE MEMORIAL
To the President of the United States, the Senate and the House
  of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress
  assembled, and the United States Secretary of Agriculture:
  We, your memorialists, the Senate of the State of Oregon, in
legislative session assembled, respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas the State of Oregon has officially established that
Klamath County, Oregon, is facing a drought emergency due to a
lack of rainfall and snowpack and has asked the United States
Department of Agriculture to issue a declaration of a natural
resources disaster in Klamath County; and
  Whereas 95 percent of harvested cropland in Klamath County
relies on irrigation, and 224,500 acres of cropland are at risk
of becoming unproductive if farmers cannot apply water during the
2001 growing season; and
  Whereas the drought has prevented farmers from planting crops
for this growing season, sacrificing more than $65 million in
farm income and risking more than $45 million in secondary income
in local communities; and
  Whereas the waterflows from the Klamath Project that sustain
agriculture are also an irreplaceable source of water for the
surrounding wildlife refuge; and
  Whereas farmers in the Klamath Basin face not only a natural
disaster due to the drought, but also restrictions on water use
imposed by the federal Endangered Species Act; and
  Whereas the federal Bureau of Reclamation's decision to refuse
to deliver waterflows to farmers will cause irreversible damage
to the economy of Klamath County, the environment of the Klamath
Basin and the thousands of farm families and communities in the
Klamath Basin; and
  Whereas the members of the Senate of the Seventy-first
Legislative Assembly wish to express their support for the
families and communities of the Klamath Basin during this crucial
time, and to thank those citizens for their stewardship of their
local economies and environment; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Oregon:
  (1) The United States Government is respectfully requested to
provide aid and support to family farmers in the Klamath Basin,
including working with the affected communities to provide any
available assistance to address the current water crisis.
  (2) A copy of this memorial shall be sent to the President of
the United States, to each member of the Oregon Congressional
Delegation and to the United States Secretary of Agriculture.
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