Water-sharing effort still highly opposed; PR campaign sets out to inform public

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

REDDING, Calif. -- The panel that's coordinating a massive water-sharing effort in the Klamath Basin is set to embark on a public relations campaign.

Measures could include news releases, media updates announcing upcoming meetings and a dedicated website detailing Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement activities.

A team would be formed to coordinate media outreach to inform the public about a process that still faces widespread opposition among farmers and other residents in the basin, which straddles the Oregon-California state line.

"The emphasis is on sharing with the public what it is we're doing and allowing the public to provide feedback," said Craig Tucker, the Klamath campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe.

The plan developed by Tucker and Glen Spain, northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, was presented to the full Klamath Basin Coordinating Council during its meeting here Dec. 15.

The council, which was formed as part of the agreement that aims to supply sufficient water for fish, farms and tribes in the basin, includes representatives from all the pact's signatories.

The KBRA was announced earlier this year along with a plan to remove four PacifiCorp dams in the Klamath River that block the path of imperiled coho salmon.

The coordinating council will consider the communications plan at its next meeting, likely in February, panel facilitator Ed Sheets said.

An informal website maintained by Sheets already highlights the council's actions. But a new dedicated website would include a description of the council's purpose, a summary of the KBRA, meeting agendas and documents and official reports, Tucker told the council.

"We also want to take head-on some of the myths about who we are and what we're doing," Tucker said. "We drafted the communication plan and tried to keep it as minimal as required ... but we do have a responsibility to make sure we're providing adequate public outreach."

In an interview, Tucker called the coordinating council the "radical center" of the Klamath Basin, noting that compromise is seen by some in the basin as a dirty word.

"In the basin, it isn't radical to be on one or the other extreme," he said.

Online

Klamath Basin Coordinating Council: http://www.edsheets.com/Klamathdocs.html

Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement: http://klamathrestoration.gov