Key wildlife refuge hit hard in Klamath Basin's water wars

Normally, the honks and calls of thousands of ducks, grebes and egrets clustering at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge make it hard to talk over the racket. But conversation is easy this summer. The only sounds at the bird-watching deck come from trucks on the distant highway and a few twittering songbirds. The 54,000-acre refuge at the Oregon-California border hasn't had water delivered since March. The canals that supply it are empty. And the marshes for waterfowl traveling the Pacific Flyway have largely dried up, marking the earliest dry date in 70 years. In the Klamath Basin, the drought-year casualty reports typically focus on farmers, ranchers, tribes or salmon and suckers on the endangered species list. Ron Cole, who has managed the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's extensive Klamath refuge system for 10 years, wishes the birds would get more air time. "You have absolutely carved out the heart of the Pacific Flyway when you dry up the Klamath refuge," says Cole, who stresses that he's speaking as an individual, not for the Fish and Wildlife Service...more