In 2001, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, enforcing the Endangered Species Act, had to stop delivering water to Klamath area farms, igniting the fuse that would alter water politics in the Klamath Basin.
Farmers could not accept this action at the expense of their livelihood.
The rural communities felt the economic impact causing civil disobedience.
Jack Kohler in the film, River of Renewal documents the day when people organized the Bucket Brigade to express their dissatisfaction.
After that event, farming interests in Congress demanded that the federal agency provide irrigation water the following year.
The next year, still under water scarcity conditions, farmers received irrigation water, further reducing water quality at the Klamath River estuary.
Migrating salmon could not survive unhealthy water conditions, resulting in the terrible loss of thousands of fish.
The fish kill was the catalyst for the restoration of balance to the Klamath River Basin, with the removal of the Copco Dams.
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