Smith defends decision to divert water from river

Sen. Gordon Smith said Tuesday that he has no regrets about the diversion of water from the Klamath River that was intended to protect fish but instead went to farmers. The 2002 water diversion - and subsequent die-off of 77,000 salmon and eventual suspension of coastal fishing - was the subject of hearings that began last week in a U.S. House committee.

Sen. Gordon Smith said Tuesday that he has no regrets about the diversion of water from the Klamath River that was intended to protect fish but instead went to farmers.

The 2002 water diversion - and subsequent die-off of 77,000 salmon and eventual suspension of coastal fishing - was the subject of hearings that began last week in a U.S. House committee.

Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee are trying to determine whether Vice President Cheney's intervention in the Klamath River Basin's water management led to the die-off a few months later, which was the largest ever recorded in the West.

In 2002, Smith's lobbying for increased irrigation in the Southern Oregon region was a topic he raised during that year's campaign. In a TV ad, farmers praised the Republican lawmaker's efforts on their behalf.

But with next year's Senate campaign approaching, the issue is more double-edged for Smith. The Democratic Party of Oregon highlighted last week's congressional hearing by calling on Smith to apologize and answer for his role.

The Washington Post in June published a series of articles on Cheney's wielding of behind-the-scenes muscle, with one installment focusing on his involvement in the Klamath water crisis, which the paper said was motivated in part to bolster the 2002 re-election of fellow Republican Smith.

In a meeting with The Register-Guard editorial board, the Oregon senator offered his most expansive explanation to date since since the issue's revival in recent weeks. Smith defended his and Cheney's efforts to help Klamath basin farmers salvage their crops during drought.

"I am not here to make any apologies," said Smith, who faces re-election next year. "I am proud to fight for the farmers or any group of Americans whom the federal government says has no standing, no water. I just find that offensive."

Smith downplayed his connection to Cheney in that chapter. He said he did not recall speaking with the vice president, but did lobby President Bush during a flight on Air Force One to allow some of the basin's water dedicated for imperiled sucker fish to be diverted to withering croplands and pastures.

"I was not familiar with all the things the vice president was doing," Smith said, referring to the Washington Post's account.

It reported that Cheney pressured natural resources managers far down the chain of command to find a way around the law that required the protection of habitat for threatened or endangered species, including sucker fish and salmon.

The newspaper said Cheney eventually championed the evocation of a little-known provision in the law allowing the convening of a "God Squad" that could, if justified by new scientific findings, reverse earlier policies under the Endangered Species Act.

That justification was found in a report by the National Academy of Sciences, which said holding back water wouldn't necessarily help sucker fish and that putting warm lake water into streams could harm coho salmon. That finding was criticized by a leading biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Later in 2002, the first of about 77,000 salmon began to wash up dead along the Klamath River. Last season, depleted Klamath River salmon runs prompted the closure of the fishery along much of the Oregon Coast. The federal government issued $60 million in aid to idled fishing fleets.

Environmentalists and fishermen have blamed the fish die-off and continued low salmon populations from the Klamath River on the 2002 diversion of water for agriculture.

Smith said he was convinced that the die-off was the result of a gill disease, "which is not uncommon and happens periodically." And he said his recollection was that the die-off occurred long after the water diversion.

"I don't know that there's a connection between water for sucker fish that went to farmers and salmon 18 months later that died of a gill disease," Smith said. "If there is, I am sorry that happened. I am not sorry for fighting for farmers. I have a responsibility for humankind."

Smith also defended Cheney's actions.

"He is an authorized authority of the executive branch of government and he was trying to do what I was trying to do: get some minimal relief to the farm community of Klamath Falls," Smith said. "He had every legal right to do it, and if mistakes were made, those are to be regretted.

"But what is not to be regretted is helping Oregon farmers."