During irrigation season, it’s not uncommon to see white pickups with long poles jutting from the bed and over the cab as they make their way throughout the Klamath Basin to ensure water is being delivered to farms and ranches.

In the winter in the Klamath Irrigation Project, you’ll find fewer pickups bouncing down ditchbanks and along canals. Instead, you’re more likely to see backhoes and excavators perched along waterworks.

An excavator sits idle on the North Canal in the Klamath Drainage District. — An excavator sits in a Klamath Drainage District field, ready to clean the canal. Darcy Hill, KDD

That doesn’t mean work slows down for Klamath Project irrigation districts.

According to Klamath Irrigation District (KID) district manager Gene Souza, the district’s winter operations and plans are the results of “careful thought and hard lessons learned.”

Within KID are over 200 miles of canals and 200 miles of drains that provide water for over 40,000 acres in its district, 7,000 acres of individual Warren Act contracts, and another 10,000 acres for lands under the Klamath Basin Improvement District.

KID fall/winter operations start at the end of the irrigation season. A 30-day “sluffing off” period allows the canals to slowly draw down to prevent collapsing, followed by “ratting” to fix problems caused by burrowing animals and inspections to identify emergency repairs and prioritize the maintenance and repair list.

On that list are a variety of standing projects, including repairs to roads, bridges, and canals, fish-screen cleaning, replacing actuators on the A Canal Headworks, building turnouts, piping problem

KID facilities impacted by snow. Photo by Jaxsen Sikorski — Klamath Irrigation District’s crews removed snow from the A Canal Facility during the latest round of winter storms. KID District Manager, Jaxsen Sikorski

sections of the canals, and much, much more.

Even with this week’s snow fall, KID’s crews were anything but idle.

According to Souza, “This week (the week of February 10th) we have had the crews, when the roads allowed, to focus on HQ maintenance and pouring concrete turnouts instead of cleaning drains and repairing bridges.”

But the most dramatic project KID worked on was repairing a mile-long tunnel that runs under Klamath Falls.

The original tunnel was built in 1904, but abandoned by the Bureau of Reclamation and then redug in 1906. Over the decades, the tunnel received a concrete lining to preserve its integrity and a new floor was poured in the 1980s.

KID maintenance crew member repairing A Canal tunnel in the Klamath Project. Photo by Jaxsen Sikorski — Klamath Irrigation District maintenance crews applied hydrophobic layer of shotcrete to a mile long tunnel of the A Canal that runs beneath Klamath Falls. KID District Manager, Jaxsen Sikorski

However, since 2021, KID’s inspection crews noticed more repairs were needed to the walls and ceiling of the tunnel. If the tunnel failed, the disaster would affect citizens in Klamath Falls as well as the farms served by the A Canal.

When funds from the Federal government failed to materialize, Souza made the decision for the district to fund its own solution. The result was KID’s board approving a budget to address the areas of concern in the tunnel.

“To make it a more lasting 50+ year solution,” said Souza, “we put extra expense into applying a hydrophobic layer of shotcrete to the areas of the walls that come into contact with water.”

In spite of the challenges winter presents the irrigation districts – especially a wet, snowy one like the Klamath Basin is experiencing – the district manager still appreciates the moisture.

“Snow is always welcome . . . even when it slows us down,” said Souza.

For the Klamath Drainage District (KDD), winter brings its own set of challenges. But according to district manager Scott White, there isn’t much of a shift from irrigation season to winter operations.

“Since we have a year-round water right, our single purpose for delivering water is to make sure it is available for our landowners whenever they need it,” said White. “So that means making sure our canals have water in them and our delivery systems are operating properly.”

KDD maintenance shop on Lower Klamath Lake Road, Klamath County, Oregon. — Klamath Drainage Districts maintenance shop on Lower Klamath Lake Road. Darcy Hill, KDD

Similar to KID, maintenance and repairs are an important part of winter operations. But water delivery remains the district’s top priority.

The 27,000 acres served by KDD have a unique water right that allows the district to take water from the end of the irrigation season (usually around October) through the winter months. This water right helps the district – and the Klamath Project – operate as it was originally designed and helps the Lower Klamath area operate in a manner inline with how it did naturally.

From maintaining soil moisture that makes its growers less reliant on spring and summer irrigation to managing pest and weeds that benefits KDD’s organic farmers, this water right is hugely beneficial to the district’s patrons. And for wildlife, the district’s flooded fields provide “key habitat for migratory birds in the fall/winter and even the early spring.“

For KDD’s crews, this means making sure pumps and pumping stations are operating properly, checking water quality, and ensuring headgates and turnouts aren’t being slowed or blocked by ice. As noted by White, winter operations are similar to irrigation season, with ice replacing weeds and moss.

Another challenge for the district is when the farms request the fields to be drained for spring.

“I do worry about our landowners wanting to drain all at once but I do not have that sense at this time,” said White. “Furthermore, with the hard freeze we’re having, the ice will not allow massive drainage, so we may be ok without having to ask our landowners to slow down or take turns.”

The Ady Canal at the Oregon Drain on Stateline Road, the Klamath Project; — In the winter, Klamath Drainage District ensures Unit 2 of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge receives water under its water right. Darcy Hill, KDD

During this time of year, KDD is also responsible for ensuring that the Klamath Basin Refuges Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge receives water as requested per the refuge’s water right. And if there’s drainage water available, the district can elect to send it to Unit 2 of the refuge versus down the Klamath River.

When asked more about the benefits of the district’s winter operations, White answered, “We have tremendous opportunities to utilize Lower Klamath for the benefit of the Project, the refuges, and the entire Basin from an operational perspective. The sooner folks begin realizing the potential of Lower Klamath, the better off we all will be in managing the water for species, habitat and growing food.”

To learn more about KID and its operations, you can follow the district on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556457663521 (or search for “Klamath Irrigation District” on the platform.) You can also keep up to date on their website, https://klamathid.org/.

For KDD, you can follow the district on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KlamathDrainageDistrict or visit their website at https://klamathdrainagedistrict.org/.

Fall and winter flooding benefit Klamath Ag and wildlife

The flooded fields in the Klamath Drainage District not only the success of the district’s family farmers and ranchers, it also echoes the ecosystem of Lower Klamath for area wildlife.

After the last potato has been dug, the last lush hayfield swathed and baled, and the last kernel of grain harvested and stored in a granary, farming and ranching in the Klamath Drainage District takes on a distinctly different tone.

Cows that lazed about pastures now eagerly await the feed wagon for hay. Fields once green with thriving crops and then brown from those same crops harvested give way to a flooded landscape reminding us that the 27,000 acres of rich cropland was once a part of Lower Klamath Lake.

A flooded field in the Klamath Drainage District farmed by Ron McGill, Klamath Falls, Oregon. — This field flooded by Ron McGill benefits from natural pest control (including weeds) while the soil is replenished.

KDD is unique from other districts in the Klamath Project in part because of its unique soils, which make fall and winter flooding advantageous for growing conditions the following spring and summer.

In recognition of this historical practice, the district’s water rights specifically provide for fall/winter flooding. At times these water rights have been criticized despite the benefits managing water this way provides for KDD family farmers and ranchers, the Klamath Project, wildlife in the district, and the greater Klamath Basin ecosystem.

Winter in the district

KDD farmers and ranchers operate much like other operations in the Klamath Basin in the winter.

For ranchers, cows and other livestock need to be fed. Grain, hay, and row crop growers are reaching out to buyers and moving commodities as needed.

However, KDD’s fall and winter water diversions add another element producers in other Klamath Project districts don’t have to worry about – irrigation.

Benefits for Klamath Ag

For KDD farmers and ranchers, fall/winter flooding provides several advantages that support sustainable agriculture in the district.

A wheel line in a flooded field in the Klamath Drainage District farmed by Ron McGill, Klamath Falls, OR. — A wheel line sits in a flooded field farmed by Ron McGill.

One primary benefit for KDD producers, as well as other farmers in Klamath Project irrigation districts, is fall and winter flooding pre-irrigates the pastures and fields in the district. When the Bureau of Reclamation allows for water to be diverted from Upper Klamath Lake for Klamath Basin agriculture, the demand from KDD is less in those early months.

With less demand from KDD growers, elevation levels in Upper Klamath Lake are impacted less, and in those early months of the irrigation season other districts are able to divert more water to their patrons.

There’s also the benefit of chemical-free pest control and fertilization.

After crops are harvested, some producers burn their fields to rid them of stubble and weeds. Burning fields helps stop invasive weeds from getting a foothold in the fields while also putting nutrients back into the soil.

Flooding those same fields helps break down the torched organic matter further and keep the seeds of pest plants from growing. And for fields that weren’t touched by fire, soil health is enhanced at the microbial level, recreating the rich earth that encouraged early settlers to establish farms in the area.

As a result, KDD farmers and ranchers require less fertilizer and pesticides when the growing season rolls around. For this reason, KDD alone accounts for nearly 10 percent of all of Oregon’s organic farming acres.

A harvested grain field that is being flooded in the Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Falls, Oregon. — Fall and winter flooding helps break down plant matter and return important nutrients back to the soil.

Benefits for the Lower Klamath ecosystem

Aside from the need for fewer pesticides and fertilizers, winter irrigation benefits the greater Klamath Basin ecosystem in several ways.

By cutting down on the amount of fertilizer needed to grow a crop, fall and winter flooding helps cut down on the amount of phosphorus needed to grow a crop. Not only does that help prevent excessive phosphorus from potentially being sent down the Klamath River, it helps prevent excess phosphorus from leaching into groundwater.

For groundwater, flooding fields in the off season helps recharge the aquifer. Over the last few years, wells have gone dry due to the Bureau of Reclamation cutting off water to the Klamath Project. Getting moisture into the ground helps replenish these sources of water, and during hot, dry summer months, can affect the local climate when that moisture is evaporated and then released during thunderstorms.

Canada geese walk on ice in a field flooded by Ron McGill in the Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Falls, Oregon. — Flooded fields provide habitat for birds migrating the Pacific Flyway, such as these Canada geese.

Flooding KDD’s fields during the fall and winter months also helps this region of the Klamath Basin function more closely to how it did before the Klamath Project was developed. Before white settlers came to the area, this marshy triangle on the north end of Lower Klamath Lake provided the Modocs with food and fiber to sustain their way of life.

Though the plant life has changed, getting water onto the landscape annually remains essential to honor the traditional ecosystem function of the area.

Helping wildlife in the Lower Klamath

Swans and geese in a flooded field in the Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Falls, OR. — Swans and honkers taking advantage of a flooded field north of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.

The Klamath Basin is a major migration corridor for birds traveling the Pacific Flyway. With KDD’s proximity to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the district is a hotspot for birdwatchers and hunters alike.

Since water to Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges has been scarce for water the last few years, fields and pastures have become the principal refuge for wildlife.

From Tulelake to Worden and up to Midland, farms and ranches have provided much needed habitat and food sources for wildlife. In the fall, these seasonal wetlands provide food for shore birds, migrating Sandhill cranes, and local herons and egrets.

Come winter, with the increased migration of ducks, geese, and swans on the Pacific Flyway, the flooded fields become open water that welcome the travelers to stop and rest before continuing their journey south.

A bald eagle on a post in a canal in the Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Falls, Oregon. — For raptors, such as this bald eagle, winter flooding provides hunting opportunities.

For coyotes and raptors, the advancing and receding waters drive small prey from the ground for them to hunt. The abundant waterfowl near the fields’ shorelines and in the canals provide another source of food for predators.

In the spring, as the flooded fields are drained for farming, deer and antelope can be found eating the soft green growth as it emerges.

Draining KDD’s fields ends up benefitting the wildlife in the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge too. Last spring, for example, KDD sent nearly 2,500 acre/feet of recirculated water to Unit 2 of the Lower Klamath refuge to help offset the shortage inflicted by the Bureau of Reclamation.

From soil health to providing habitat, KDD’s fall and winter flooding is as important to the success to the growers in the district as it is the Klamath Basin ecosystem and ultimately the entire Pacific Flyway. And as time goes on, sustainable practices such as this will be more recognized for the wide-ranging advantages they provide agriculture and the environment.

Category: Basin Ag News Articles

Klamath Project irrigation districts stay busy during winter months

Winter Flooding Benefits Klamath Ag & Wildlife