Water in the West

Even as Indian wars went on, people decided to move west to farm. Easy access to land was a seller for many while government and railroads looked for profit. However, contrary to what sellers said, farming on this land was not easy. Blizzards, droughts, and poisonous snakes were among some of the hardships these farmers faced. During the drought of the 1930s, farmers in the Great Plains were unable to plant crops. Crops acted as a natural anchor to keep soil in place. The soil would dry out, turn to dust, and would get blown away during the strong wind storms. These black clouds of dust reached as New York. The Dust Bowl affected as much as 100,000,000 acres of farmland and is known as a natural and human disaster caused by misuse of land and years of continuous drought.
1918 to 1961 dams were built along an upstream stretch of the Klamath River by PacifiCorp to generate electricity. This made Indians and environmentalists mad and they have blamed them for the decline in salmon in the river. The water, other than creating energy was also brought out to farmers to use. This raised the complaint of lower salmon counts from environmentalists and fishermen. After a long battle a draft plan has now been set to remove four of the dams. Under the new plan, they would study the cost and environmental impact of removing the dams to help make a full informed decision. This includes the effect on fish populations and downstream river conditions. Until then, PacifiCorp will continue to run the dams until removed and have no liability of what happens after the dams are removed. Salmon has not been seen there for 90 years and this is said to be the best chance to bring them home.
Today, another natural and human disaster can be the cause of the current water issue in the west. California, in particular, has been in drought for many years. On top of that, water has been cut from valley farmers and has become one of the hottest issues in California Politics. If you drive down common highways in the San Joaquin Valley you will see plowed fields with nothing in them, or partially planted, or even fields with trenches dug right through the middle of them because there is not enough water to plant all of it. Common signs that are posted in these fields say “No Water, No Jobs = No Future” and “Congress Created Dust Bowl”. California farmers have referred to this fight for water as the Dust Bowl of our time.
This water issue has seemed to repeat often over the years since the Great Depression, and if major steps are not taken, I think this will be something we will continue to see.

http://www.povertyandhunger.org/povertyimages/CongressCreatedDustBowl.jpghttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/business/energy-environment/01klamath.html?hpw