Editing Klamath Falls, Oregon (section)

===Water rights controversy===
[[File:White waters at Klamath Falls.jpeg|thumb|right|[[Link River]] downstream [[white water]] falls, from which Klamath Falls gets its name]]
The city made national headlines in 2001 when a court decision was made to shut off Klamath Project irrigation water on April 6 because of [[Endangered Species Act]] requirements. The [[Lost River sucker]] and [[shortnose sucker]] were listed on the Federal [[Endangered Species]] List in 1988, and when drought struck in 2001, a panel of scientists stated that further diversion of water for agriculture would be detrimental to these species, which reside in the [[Upper Klamath Lake]], as well as to the protected [[Coho salmon]] which spawn in the [[Klamath River]]. Many protests by farmers and citizens culminated in a "[[Bucket brigade|Bucket Brigade]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.klamathbucketbrigade.com/general-4|title=A History of the Klamath Bucket Brigade|publisher=Klamath Bucket Brigade}}</ref> on Main Street May 7, 2001, in Klamath Falls. The event was attended by 18,000 farmers, ranchers, citizens, and politicians. Two giant bucket monuments have since been constructed and erected in town to commemorate the event. Such universal criticism resulted in a new plan implemented in early 2002 to resume irrigation to farmers.

Low river flows in the Klamath and [[Trinity River (California)|Trinity]] rivers and high temperatures led to a mass die-off of at least 33,000 salmon in 2002.<ref name=Milstein>{{cite news|url=http://www.pelicannetwork.net/salmon.tappingtrinity.htm|title=Tapping the Trinity {{!}} The Salmon Coalition|work=The Oregonian|date=October 27, 2002|author=Michael Milstein|publisher=PelicanNetwork.net|location=Portland, Oregon|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030310030057/http://www.pelicannetwork.net/salmon.tappingtrinity.htm|archive-date=March 10, 2003}}</ref> Dwindling salmon numbers have practically shut down the fishing industry in the region and caused over $60m in disaster aid being given to fishermen to offset losses.<ref name=post>{{cite news|url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/leaving_no_tracks/index.html|title=Leaving No Tracks {{!}} Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 27, 2007|last1=Becker|first1=Jo|last2=Gellman|first2=Barton|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515135939/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/leaving_no_tracks/index.html|archive-date=May 15, 2008}}</ref> 90% of Trinity River water is diverted for California agriculture. As much as 90% of the Trinity's water, which would otherwise flow into the Klamath and out to sea, instead rushes south toward California's thirsty center.<ref name=Milstein/>

According to a [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] report of October 22, 2003, limiting irrigation water did little if anything to help endangered fish and may have hurt the populations.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=10838|title=Broader Approach Needed for Protection And Recovery of Fish in Klamath River Basin|work=Office of News and Public Information|publisher=[[National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine]]|date=October 22, 2003}}</ref> A contrary report has criticized the National Academy of Sciences report.<ref name=post/> The Chiloquin Dam has been removed to help improve sucker spawning habitat.

In 2021 tensions between locals and the Federal Government led two local farmers to purchase land at the headgates in Klamath Falls, OR. These farmers have ties to the [[Ammon Bundy]] People's Rights organization<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ammon's Army: Inside the Far-Right People's Rights Network ⋆ Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights|url=https://www.irehr.org/reports/peoples-rights-report/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights|date=October 13, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> and are preparing for a potential standoff situation with the government.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Farmers with ties to Ammon Bundy buy land, make camp by shut Klamath irrigation canal|url=https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2021/05/26/farmers-buy-land-make-camp-shut-klamath-oregon-irrigation-canal-ammon-bundy/7457817002/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=The Register-Guard|language=en-US}}</ref>