The Deed to the Farm: Promises Made, Promises Broken
By Gene Souza, The Executive Director, Klamath Irrigation District
Klamath Irrigation District is requesting that the federal government fulfill its contractual obligations to the farmers and ranchers served by the District. Specifically, we are asking for Articles 35(a) and 35(b) to be fulfilled as should have occurred in 1967. We need your letters of support to help our elected and appointed officials understand this is a contract compliance obligation of the federal government.
Read K.I.D.’s 1954 Contract with the Federal Government.
Read the 1905 Contract K.I.D.’s parent organization signed with the Federal Government.
Read the “Paid in Full” Notice to K.I.D.
Read the 1977 Agreement between Klamath Irrigation District, Tulelake Irrigation District, Langell Valley Irrigation District, and Klamath Drainage District to assume Operations and Maintenance of the Klamath Project Reserved Works spurred by Bill Ganong.
Read the Department of the Interior concurrence with the transfer of Reserved Works sans the 5 updated federal contracts.
Read the DRAFT 1969 K.I.D. updated contract which K.I.D. would take over the role of Reclamation administrative responsibilities for the Klamath Project…that was agreed to in writing with the 1977 Agreement between Districts.
The Original Promise
Over a century ago, the Federal Government issued a challenge and a promise to the American people. They looked at the “Everglades of the West” of the Klamath Basin and were asked to invest in our vision of a place to grow the nation’s food, and our families. The Federal Government then asked for homesteaders and veterans who were willing to invest their sweat, their youth, and their fortunes to turn reclaimed soil into a breadbasket for the Nation.
The deal was simple: the government would invest in expanding the existing irrigation infrastructure, and the farmers would pay for the expansion. The farmers donated land and resources and, in 1905, invested over $2M in seed money to the federal government to kick-start the project. It was a partnership for mutual benefit; it was not a government handout program. It was supposed to be a path to returned ownership, independence, and the American Dream. We held up our end of the bargain. We built the community, we grew the crops, and we fed the country.
But somewhere along the way, the “Partner” became the “Landlord.”
The 1954 Contract: The Mortgage is Paid
In 1954, the Klamath Irrigation District amended its 1905 specific repayment contract with the United States. This document was effectively our mortgage. It laid out the costs of the infrastructure and the terms of repayment. The understanding was clear: once the construction costs were repaid, the “Federal Nexus”—the government’s heavy-handed control over our daily operations—would recede.
For decades, our patrons paid their assessments. We paid down the principal. According to the terms of the original 1905 and amended 1954 agreements, the construction debt for our transferred works has been satisfied. In the real world, when you pay off your mortgage, the bank hands you the deed. But in the Klamath Basin, the federal government has refused to release the title, keeping us in a state of perpetual “rentership”, or feudalism, on infrastructure we have already bought and paid for.
The Era of Broken Promises
Instead of handing over the keys, the Bureau of Reclamation has moved the goalposts. They have shifted from an agency that builds water projects to an agency that manages decline. They claim we cannot have the title because of “outstanding debt,” yet they refuse to show us a clear bill.
We are living through a cycle of “Promises Made, Promises Broken.” We were promised a reliable water supply; we got uncertainty. We were promised that if we paid for the infrastructure, we would control it; we got more bureaucracy. Now, they are asking us to pay for their mistakes before they will let us go.
The Burden of Failed Projects
The most egregious example of this is the demand that local farmers pay for federal failures. The Bureau claims the Project farmers, specifically farmers served by the Klamath Irrigation District, owe nearly $20 million for the “A Canal Fish Screen”—a facility designed by federal engineers that failed to save the endangered fish, and in-fact denied the fish from over 200 miles of artificial habitat the fish had thrived in for over 100 years.
Imagine taking your truck to a mechanic, having him destroy the engine while trying to fix the radio, and then receiving a bill for his time. You wouldn’t pay it. Yet, the Bureau insists that Klamath farmers reimburse the government for its failed experiment. They are holding our Title Transfer hostage, demanding we pay for their flawed ideas and their endless administrative costs associated with the Endangered Species Act.
It is Time for an Audit
We are done accepting the bill without seeing the receipt. We are calling on our representatives in Congress to help us stop this “Wealth Extraction.” We are requesting a forensic audit of the Project debt. We believe that if you strip away the phantom costs, the failed projects, and the bureaucratic bloat, the balance is zero.
It is time to honor the original promise. It is time to hand over the deed.
Our Request to Washington
To move forward, Klamath Irrigation District is formally requesting the following from the Bureau of Reclamation and our Congressional delegation:
- A Formal Status Report: We require a plain-English explanation of exactly what administrative steps remain to finalize the Dingell Act Title Transfer. Stop the delay tactics.
- The Receipt (SPCCR): We demand the immediate release of a current Statement of Project Construction Cost and Repayment (SPCCR). We need an itemized forensic accounting that separates the original 1954 contract costs from costs being held over the farmers that they never agreed to incurring.
- Amnesty for Failed Projects: We request that costs associated with the failed A Canal Fish Screen, the $100M in costs of ESA compliance that has not resulted in any regulatory relief for Klamath Farmers be classified as non-reimbursable by the farmers. Local farmers should not bear the debt for federal ideas failures or federal mandates.
- The Legal Justification: If the Bureau continues to block Title Transfer based on this disputed debt, we ask for the specific statutory citation that authorizes them to hold a Dingell Act transfer hostage over ancillary costs.
We are ready to take ownership of our future. We are simply asking the Federal Government to get out of the way.
HELP YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! GIVE US A LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR TITLE TRANSFER.
We ask you to email your letter of support to our Executive Director at Gene.Souza@KlamathID.org
To help with your letter of support, we offer some language below. We suggest that you customize your letter of support to match your situation.
Option 1: The “Family Legacy” Focus
(Best for multi-generational farmers worried about passing the farm to their children)
Subject: Support for Title Transfer and Securing Our Future
To the KID Board of Directors:
I am writing to you as a patron of the district to fully support the strategic push for Title Transfer of the A Canal and all of its associated distribution works.
My family has farmed in this basin for [Number] years. We have weathered droughts, markets, and pests. But the one thing we cannot weather is the permanent uncertainty coming from the federal government. I look at my children/grandchildren, and I worry that if we stay in the current federal system, there won’t be a farm left to leave them. We are slowly bleeding out from uncertainty.
I agree with the Board’s direction: we need to own the infrastructure we have already paid for. I also strongly support the push to audit the project debt. It is unfair to ask us to pay for federal engineering failures like the fish screen just to get our freedom.
Please continue the fight to scrub the debt and get the title. We need local control so we can make decisions that make sense for Klamath, not Washington D.C.
Sincerely,
[Name] [Farm Name/Location]
Option 2: The “Business & Audit” Focus
(Best for farmers focused on the bottom line, assessments, and the unfair debt)
Subject: Audit the Debt and Transfer the Title
To the Board:
I am writing to urge the Board to stay the course regarding the Title Transfer under the Dingell Act, Department of Interior Action, or appropriate legislative action.
From a business perspective, the current arrangement is malpractice. We are paying O&M, we are bearing the liability for canal failure, yet we have zero authority to manage the asset effectively. No business can survive with “responsibility without authority.”
I particularly support the strategy to demand an OMB audit of the project debt. As a ratepayer, I am tired of writing checks for “phantom costs” and failed federal projects. We should not be held hostage by debt that shouldn’t exist.
Let’s get the books audited, get the junk fees removed, and take over the title. I would rather pay assessments to a local district that answers to me than to a federal bureaucracy that ignores me.
Respectfully,
[Name] [Farm Name]
Option 3: The “Sovereignty & Local Control” Focus
(Best for those frustrated with the “Tenant Farmer” dynamic and federal overreach)
Subject: Ending the Federal Control of Our Water
To the Directors of KID:
I am writing to stand behind the District’s effort to secure Title Transfer.
For too long, we have been treated like tenant farmers on our own land. We paid off the construction costs decades ago as per the 1954 contract. It is time the government honors that deal and hands over the deed.
The federal management of this project has been a disaster of delays and mismanagement. They are happy to take our money, but they aren’t interested in our survival. I am done relying on the Bureau of Reclamation to save us. The only way we survive 2030 is if we hold the title and make our own decisions under State Law.
Don’t let the naysayers slow you down. Secure the water rights, fight for the debt forgiveness, and bring the control back to the Basin where it belongs.
Sincerely,
[Name] [Location]
The “Mix & Match” Menu
(choose some bullet points below to craft your own custom letter of support)
Pick one “Opening Thought”:
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“I am tired of the uncertainty that hangs over every planting season.”
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“I want to ensure this farm is viable for the next generation.”
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“I believe that local farmers know how to manage this system better than D.C. bureaucrats.”
Pick one “Hard Point” on the Debt:
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“We demand a forensic audit of the project debt before we agree to pay another dime.”
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“It is time to write off the failed A Canal fish screen costs—that was their mistake, not ours.”
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“I support legislation to make ESA compliance costs non-reimbursable.”
Pick one “Closing Statement”:
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“Title Transfer is the only path to stability.”
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“We paid for it. We should own it.”
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“Keep fighting for our independence.”
We ask you to email your letter of support to our Executive Director at Gene.Souza@KlamathID.org
