Where eagles dare live

The San Francisco Chronicle editorial board calls on the federal government to develop a long-term strategy to satisfy the competing interests within the Klamath Basin. There simply is not enough water for the government to live up to its commitments to farmers and its responsibility to preserve fish and wildlife.

A HEAD GATE at the south end of Upper Klamath Lake was cranked open yesterday, bringing water but no peace to the troubled basin.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton's decision to release 75,000 acre-feet to farmers was a compromise that satisfied no one. An acre foot is roughly the annual requirement of one suburban family. It will help green a few pastures, sustain some alfalfa fields and recharge wells -- but it was too little too late to save many crops within the river basin that straddles the Oregon- California border.

The water release was mainly symbolic. The main value of the water release was symbolic. The Bush administration demonstrated its concern for about 1,400 farmers who have been denied water because of the government's obligation, under the Endangered Species Act, to keep it in the lake to protect endangered sucker fish.

"We hope this will be viewed by everyone as taking care of the situation," Norton said in Portland on Tuesday.

It was wishful, if not delusional, thinking on her part. The farmers are still mad. Environmentalists are openly challenging Norton's claim of a slight surplus of water in Upper Klamath Lake. Irreconcilable conflicts persist.

About 20 miles south of where the water was released, marshes in Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge are drying up -- and the federal government has not sent or committed a drop, even though it is the winter home to about 1, 000 bald eagles, the largest concentration in the lower 48 states. Eagles feed on the ducks and geese that begin arriving at the refuge in September.

Norton's response to the eagles' predicament has been to suggest an "artificial feeding" program. The eagles obviously have no clout in the capital; a threatened lawsuit, however, just might assert their right to a share of the scarce water.

The futility of this week's water release points up the need for the federal government to develop a long-term strategy to satisfy the competing interests within the Klamath Basin. There simply is not enough water for the government to live up to its commitments to farmers and its responsibility to preserve fish and wildlife.

This article appeared on page A - 24 of the San Francisco Chronicle