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Tribes On Opposite Ends Of Klamath Basin Work Through Severe Water Issues

downtowngal/Wikimedia

The Klamath Basin drought is having serious impacts on the region's Native tribes

The word "crisis" can certainly be overused--especially on cable TV news--but its use is warranted in discussing water in the Klamath Basin this year.

The area around Upper Klamath Lake, headwaters for the river system, got very little snowpack or rain over the winter. So there's almost no water for irrigators, and precious little for the survival of fish species in the lake, and downstream in the Klamath River.

The Klamath Tribes hold the senior water right in the Upper Basin, and the Yurok Tribe on the Lower Klamath is working to avoid a major fish kill this year. Klamath Chairman Don Gentry and Yurok Vice Chairman Frankie Myers talk to us about the limited options, none of them seemingly much good.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.