Herald and News letter to editor by Henry McQuown, Chiloquin 6/20/09

Dams may be necessary for groundwater supply 

Groundwater — how does it get replenished?

I am pretty sure that 5,000 - 6,000 years ago when the first human walked into the Klamath Basin there were hundreds of springs feeding the lakes and rivers, creating lakes and streams that have since dried up because of ground water use.

There were also vast numbers of beaver dams that slowed surface water so it could percolate into the groundwater supply.

If I remember correctly, some years back they tried reintroducing beavers on federal lands to help groundwater.

The ponds would have held fish — a bonus to fishermen. Teach a man to fish and he will feed himself. Give him a gun and he will kill anything that moves.

The beavers never had a chance.

The dams that everyone wants to destroy may be helping the ground- water remain close to the surface in the Basin and parts of California along the Klamath River. Has any group estimated the cost of pumping groundwater an additional 10 feet, 20 feet, 100 feet as the supply is sucked out for farms and home use?

So the salmon can’t reach the Klamath Basin. I can’t go on vacation because of the cost of gas.

If the cost of agricultural products goes up because of pumping cost, I may finally go on the diet I have put off for so long.

We will never see any new and needed water storage facilities built in our lifetime. If we tear down what we have, there is a dry and hungry future left for coming generations.

I think that trying beavers again would be worth the effort, but only if gun-sight cameras are required on all guns over .177 caliber. When you go to buy new ammunition, the cameras are downloaded to the state and citations issued for misuse.