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GRANTS PASS (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court has kept alive claims by Klamath Basin farmers that the federal government should pay them for shutting off water to crops in 2001.
A federal appeals court had asked the Oregon Supreme Court for guidance on a 1905 state law that gave the water to a federal irrigation project. On Thursday, the Oregon Supreme Court said the law does not give farmers a property interest in the federally owned water, but it does not preclude it either.
The case goes back to the federal appeals court to settle that question.
The government shut off the water to help protected fish survive a drought.
With the Klamath Basin now in another drought, farmers receiving federal irrigation water are facing the possibility of another shut-off.
A federal appeals court had asked the Oregon Supreme Court for guidance on a 1905 state law that gave the water to a federal irrigation project. On Thursday, the Oregon Supreme Court said the law does not give farmers a property interest in the federally owned water, but it does not preclude it either.
The case goes back to the federal appeals court to settle that question.
The government shut off the water to help protected fish survive a drought.
With the Klamath Basin now in another drought, farmers receiving federal irrigation water are facing the possibility of another shut-off.
