Misty Buckley letter to Oregon Emergency Board about her Klamath Basin domestic well going dry 102821

Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.

October 28, 2021

						
						Misty Buckley 
						writes to the Oregon Emergency Board 
						about her domestic well going dry

						"...We are one of several (at least 4) homes in our 
						neighborhood whose well has went dry this summer...there 
						were ag wells pumping near our home that (as far as I 
						know) never got shut off all season long and illegal 
						marijuana grows stealing water that were turned in 
						numerous times throughout the summer but not raided 
						until just recently, to say the least it’s tough to feel 
						that the average homeowners should have to bear this 
						exorbitant burden without some type of assistance..."
						
						FOLLOWED BY: Comment by KID/Klamath Irrigation 
						District Manager Gene Souza, on the reason 410 domestic 
						wells went dry this summer:

						
						"Subject: Klamath Emergency Board Request

						
						Hello, 

						
						My name is Misty Buckley and we own a home situated on 
						about 10 acres off of Hill Rd. in the Klamath Basin. We 
						are one of several (at least 4) homes in our 
						neighborhood whose well has went dry this summer. I sent 
						a rather lengthy letter in early July to a wide variety 
						of county, state, and federal officials detailing what 
						it had been like up to that point to deal with the 
						situation and some longer-term concerns depending how 
						long the situation continued (copy attached for those 
						who had not previously seen that correspondence).

						
						We are grateful for the water tanks and water delivery 
						provided by county and state partnerships; although it 
						doesn’t make the situation perfect it has made it much 
						more bearable and saved us considerable time and cost 
						that we were incurring to haul water ourselves. Knowing 
						that the program was extended through the spring has 
						been a welcome piece of news although I pray we have a 
						resolution before then. If you are receiving this letter 
						I am presuming that you likely have not had to be in 
						this situation yourself and I cannot really express how 
						time-consuming it has been to deal with not having 
						water.

						
						As I mentioned in my previous letter, without water we 
						do not have air conditioning nor heat due to the type of 
						HVAC system our home had when we purchased it. Although 
						the system was dated it did function up until we had no 
						water; lacking a secure timeline of when we will be able 
						to have a well driller service our home and with winter 
						coming, and our only heat source being one which does 
						not adequately & fully heat the entire home, we have 
						made plans for a new heating system. We count that 
						significant cost to be a direct result of our well going 
						dry.

						
						We are entering our sixth month without “normal” 
						functioning water supply. We were initially told to plan 
						for 3-6 months before a well driller could service our 
						property and all summer long I’ve been holding on to 
						that hope and really counting on that timeline – 
						worrying about winter and freezing weather coming but 
						really thinking we would be OK by then. We have kept in 
						contact with the driller who seemed most likely to be 
						able to help us the soonest; but they’ve had delays on 
						other projects that were ahead of us. Now I am truly 
						wondering if getting a driller to our property before 
						the consistent freezing temperatures begin will happen 
						or not and the thought of trying to keep the animals 
						hydrated throughout winter without ‘normal’ running 
						water makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t honestly see 
						how we can make this work but something always seems to 
						work itself out. We were planning that we would need to 
						spend approximately $10K-30K based on what we were told 
						in early June but I was just told by one neighbor that 
						they were told by a well driller they contacted to plan 
						to spend $60K to get their water fixed. I don’t honestly 
						know how we (or really most anyone) can absorb that but 
						I don’t suppose we have much choice. I feel like we 
						basically have a blank check on the table and we’ll have 
						to spend whatever it takes to get water restored as 
						without it the property is practically worthless. 
					

						
						I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate 
						some suggestions I sent in my previous correspondence 
						that it appears (as far as I am aware) to not have been 
						acted upon at all. 

						• The state could waive domestic well permit/license/etc 
						fees for deepening or replacing a failed well 

						• The state could expedite permit processing for 
						replacing existing domestic uses 

						• The state could allow similarly-licensed well drilling 
						contractors from out of state who are not licensed in 
						Oregon to assist Oregon landowners if their schedule can 
						accommodate sooner than local contractors 

						• The state could allow variances to deepen domestic 
						wells (if found to be suitable by contractor) even if 
						the well wasn’t logged at the time of construction 
					

						• The state could increase monitoring and reporting of 
						resulting data for public awareness 

						• The state could increase transparency of reporting 
						data reflecting groundwater decline and the number of 
						affected landowners 

						• The county could provide property tax adjustments for 
						loss of use for affected properties

						
						I really do support the agricultural producers 
						everywhere, but knowing there were ag wells pumping near 
						our home that (as far as I know) never got shut off all 
						season long and illegal marijuana grows stealing water 
						that were turned in numerous times throughout the summer 
						but not raided until just recently, to say the least 
						it’s tough to feel that the average homeowners should 
						have to bear this exorbitant burden without some type of 
						assistance. I don’t know what quantity of money would be 
						appropriate and different people will have incurred 
						different costs but when there are so many properties in 
						Klamath County who have been dealt this same hand and in 
						particular so many homes in our specific neighborhood 
						that are affected, this is not simple misfortune. 
						Funding relief that can be provided would be welcome 
						assistance.

						
						Thank you for your consideration. 

						
						Nathan & Misty Buckley

----------------------------------------------------------

Comment by KID/Klamath Irrigation District Manager Gene Souza, on the reason 410 domestic wells went dry this summer:

KID Manager Gene Souza: “…many shallow domestic wells, which were put into the previous marshlands and lakebeds, went dry because the irrigation water was not allowed to fill the canals and be applied to the former marshlands and lakebeds. It is common practice to flood irrigate the former marshlands, such as those around the old Henley ranch, which recharges the shallow aquifer above the chalk rock (yonna layer of impenetrable ash). I do not know the exact depth or geology of Misty's well...but many (my estimation is 75% of the 210) could have been fixed by simply allowing K.I.D. to charge the A Canal and allow some flood irrigation in the areas where the shallow wells were failing. K.I.D. was denied this human health and welfare opportunity.”

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