With the break-in, Reclamation steps into uncharted territory. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had never been an incident where people have forced their way onto Reclamation property and caused damage to water gates or other fixtures or equipment.

The agency that is responsible for developing and managing hundreds of irrigation projects throughout the West was created to serve farmers. Up until now, its unofficial sympathies have been with the farmers of the Klamath Project.

Klamath Project workers who were required to close the A Canal Monday did so with distaste. Closing the canal gate rubs against the entire mission of the agency.

Some of that sympathy appears to have evaporated with Wednesday’s protest and break-in. Reclamation officials are taking the incident very seriously.

Since the Bureau of Reclamation is a water-management agency, not an enforcement agency, it has no authority to investigate crimes or enforce laws. The FBI and federal marshals have been asked to investigate the break-in.

Bob Applegate, spokesman for Gov. John Kitzhaber, said the governor is monitoring the developments.

“The governor’s aware of the situation in the Klamath area and would urge that citizens make their views known legally and safely, and not engage in any acts of vandalism,” Applegate said. “We just urge all to be calm and peaceful while we try to make the best of a bad situation.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials in the California-Nevada regional office in Sacramento were reportedly discussing the Klamath situation Friday morning and unavailable for comment.

Reclamation spokesman Jeffrey McCracken said Friday morning he did not know if the federal agencies will investigate. “We’ve heard nothing from the marshals or the FBI,” he said. In the meantime, McCracken said, Klamath Project officials have taken measures to make sure the gates cannot be opened again by force. He would not elaborate.

The third break-in occurred after a group of more than 100 people forced their way past a chain link fence surrounding the A Canal headgate and used welding equipment to re-open one of the six gates that control the flow of water from Upper Klamath Lake into the canal. The canal is the main feeder for farmlands of the Klamath Reclamation Project. The gate had been closed by Klamath Project officials twice previously after vandals opened it.

Following the first illegal opening sometime early Saturday morning, Klamath Project officials closed the gate after officials of the Klamath Irrigation District refused to do so. The irrigation district has a contract to operate the gate according to instructions from Reclamation, but its managers refused to comply with the bureau’s directive to close the gate.

The gate was closed by Reclamation employees Monday. Early Tuesday morning, Reclamation officials had to close the gate a second time and it was reopened. This time they welded it shut.

Tuesday afternoon, Kirk Rodgers, acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific region, and Mike Ryan, acting deputy director for the region, flew to Klamath Falls to discuss the break-ins with managers of the irrigation district.

The Reclamation official who spoke off the record expressed concern that local police chose to stand by rather than protect government property from damage. Police officers observed the events Wednesday but did nothing to interfere with the crowd.

The official suggested that when and if federal law officers did arrive, they would probably take a close look at television coverage and newspaper photographs that depicted the protesters inside the headgate enclosure and on the headgates.