KDD canals Archives - Klamath Drainage District

March 5, 2025March 5, 2025

Klamath Project irrigation districts stay busy during winter months

An excavator sits idle on the North Canal in the Klamath Drainage District.

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.

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/.

July 10, 2023July 12, 2023

Klamath Drainage District featured in Deputy Assistant Secretary Strickler’s “Opportunities Tour”

Clipping from the June, 2023 edition of Basin Ag News

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior Matt Strickler recently paid a visit to the Klamath Basin and the Klamath Project as part of an “Opportunities Tour” put together by the Klamath Water Users Association.

As a part of the June 14th-15th Opportunities Tour, Strickler visited the Klamath Drainage District and met with district manager, Scott White, and district supervisors Tracey Liskey and Luther Horsley. In their discussion with Deputy Assistant Secretary Strickler, they talked about the work being done and the partnerships developed with Ducks Unlimited, Klamath Watershed Partnership, Trout Unlimited, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Waterfowl, and many other stakeholders to benefit the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and the Klamath Basin wildlife that call it home.

Below is a excerpt from the article “Deputy Assistant Secretary Strickler’s “Opportunities Tour”” that appeared in the June edition of Basin Ag News, provided by the Herald and News. The excerpt focuses on Strickler’s stop in KDD, but you can read the article in its entirety at Basin Ag News.

It is not every day that you get to interact with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

But Matt Strickler quickly makes one forget his official title, with his unassuming, down-to-earth demeanor.

Strickler, a long-time congressional staffer and former official in Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s administration, is a seemingly good fit for the Klamath Basin, where stakeholders are still getting to know the Secretary of the Interior’s lead representative on water issues in the Basin.

On June 14 and 15, Strickler visited the Klamath Basin to meet directly with agricultural and tribal leaders, prior to a broader meeting of stakeholders on June 16. The Klamath Water Users Association took the opportunity to organize a tour of the Klamath Project, to look at and discuss concepts that could possibly benefit multiple stakeholders, including fish and wildlife.

The objective of this so-called “opportunities tour” was to demonstrate the capacity and willingness of agricultural producers within the Klamath Project to help solve some of the intractable problems related to water management in the Basin.

The first stop was Midland Hill, which offers a bird’seye view of Miller Island, the Tule Smoke Club, the Southern Pacific railroad embankment, and expanse of Klamath Drainage District and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. There, Klamath Drainage District’s manager Scott White, along with district supervisors Tracey Liskey and Luther Horsley, spoke briefly about the concepts being discussed among the district and other stakeholders based around the basic concept of reestablishing functioning wetlands within the Tule Smoke Club, Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, and possibly beyond. Wetlands that could potentially be habitat for endangered Lost River and shortnose sucker (C’waam and Koptu).

Klamath Watershed Partnership, Trout Unlimited, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife are involved in this planning effort, among other stakeholders.

Strickler indicated he is hoping to identify a handful of large-scale projects towards which federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIL) can be targeted. The goal, Strickler said, is to get away from the perception of “random actions of restoration” that have traditionally characterized federal activities in the Basin.

Following Midland Hill, the group proceeded to the Ady Canal headworks and the terminus of the Klamath Straits Drain.

There, one can see the complicated nature of water management in Lower Klamath Lake, as the Klamath Straits Drain goes both over and under the headworks of the Ady Canal, and the remnants of the original Klamath Straits are still visible just north of the existing channel. The discussion there continued around river flows and potential for the district’s ideas to potentially benefit the Klamath River.

The group then drove to the district’s recirculating plant on Township Road, which is responsible for a large portion of the water that made it to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge this past winter and spring. After a brief explanation of the pump’s workings, a quick drive down to the lower end of the Ady Canal led to the site where Ducks Unlimited (DU) plans to build a similar unit with a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A trickle was then flowing through the Ady Canal into Unit 2 on the south side of Stateline Road (commonly known as Stateline Drain). These deliveries are being attributed to a complicated water right transfer from the Wood River Valley, when similar quality water in the adjacent drain is often available if the pump only existed to lift it.

Juvenile suckers have recently been transplanted into Unit 2, making the need for a secure water supply all the greater. Meanwhile the rest of Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is bone-dry, with great clouds of dust blowing off the former wetlands.

After breaking off from Scott White and Klamath Drainage District, the tour continued down Stateline Road, looking at DU’s other planned pumping site on the west end of Stateline Drain.

You can read the rest of this article and more at Basin Ag News.

December 21, 2022December 23, 2022

Fall & Winter Flooding In the Klamath Drainage District Yields Benefits for the Klamath Basin and Klamath Project

Geese in a winter flooded field in the Klamath Drainage District

Klamath Drainage District landowners have practiced fall and winter flooding since the inception of the district. Despite the number of years it’s been used to the benefit of not only KDD family farmers and ranchers, there are benefits to the Klamath Basin as a whole.

An important fact that should be discussed more is that KDD returns or reuses more than 75% of the water that is used in the district. Other than ensuring the landowners of KDD can produce a crop, that fall and winter irrigation water is also used to benefit:

- Klamath Basin refuges
- Augment flows in the Klamath River
- Get reused in KDD
- Offer support for other districts in the Klamath Irrigation Project
- Lessen demand on Upper Klamath Lake at a critical time for C’waam and koptu spawning
- Rehydrate the aquifer that produces cold, clean spring water to the Klamath River

Bald eagle perched on pivot hunting the flooded fields of the Klamath Drainage District. Photo by Scott White — KDD’s winter flooding offers hunting opportunities to threatened species, such as the bald eagle.

KDD, Klamath Basin Wildlife & The Refuges

With the refuges of the Klamath Basin getting last in line priority, KDD fields are essentially “the only restaurant in town” for the birds of the Pacific Flyway. Fall harvest has provided much needed food and habitat for songbirds, ducks, geese and cranes. Flooding the fields brings out mice and other prey for for bald eagles and other area raptors to feast on while also decreasing the need for pesticide use. In effect, KDD is the default habitat for migrating birds and other wildlife.

Speaking of the refuges, from December of 2021 through August, 2022, KDD sent approximately 3,100 acre feet of much needed water to the Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge. While we can hope that much needed precipitation will help salvage our wetlands, right now, KDD has been the only source of water for the refuge. And without winter flooding, the chances of KDD being able to make water available for the refuge becomes incredibly slim simply from the fact there is no water for KDD to reuse for it.

KDD Winter Flooding and Its Impact on Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River

The beauty of maximizing KDD’s winter deliveries is that it has no impact on the fishery. KDD’s allocation is only 2% of the forecasted fall and winter inflows to Upper Klamath Lake. In reality, that is less than 1/10 of a foot on Upper Klamath Lake and 5% of the rate in the Klamath River. On top of that, the Klamath Drainage District has already limited its diversions by 60% to help fill Upper Klamath Lake, and the Klamath River is projected to get 58% of fall/winter inflows.

Fall and winter flooding allows KDD to return that water to the system in the spring when it’s desperately needed for salmon spawning. Plus, in March and April when the demand for Klamath Project irrigators is ramping up, KDD has little to no demand at that time when the district receives its full allocation.

How is this possible? The marshlands reclaimed for farmland from Lower Klamath Lake has acted like a “sponge” for millenia, taking in and holding moisture that would be released later in the spring and summer. As the warmer months of the spring roll, the ground is already charged and ready for the growing season ahead. On the other hand, if these fields weren’t flooded during the fall and winter, KDD patrons’ needs from Upper Klamath Lake would add to the stress on Upper Klamath Lake when other districts are making demands on the lake, and there would be no water to send down the Klamath River to help augment spring spawning flows.

But there is a challenge KDD is facing at the moment – the Bureau of Reclamation’s has taken over 900 acre feet in Area K. With the Bureau taking this water, they’ve left no water in our drains for us to utilize for our patrons, which in turn requires us to take more of our winter allocation in order to meet our landowners’ demand.

Geese in a winter grain field in the Klamath Drainage District

KDD’s fall harvest leaves winter feed and habitat for a variety of birds

Rainbow over a flooded field in the Klamath Drainage District

Winter flooding provides a number of benefits to the Klamath Basin and the Klamath Irrigation Project

Coyote hunting the flooded fields of the Klamath Drainage District

The winter fields of KDD offer hunting opportunities for a variety of predators, such as this coyote

KDD Patrons Pay the Bureau of Reclamation for Operating Costs

Klamath Drainage District patrons pay 20% of the operation and maintenance (O&M) on the Link River Dam and Upper Klamath Lake. However, in the past these very patrons have not been eligible for any of the Bureau of Reclamation’s drought programs.

Without any drought assistance funding, KDD patrons become more reliant on irrigating in order to survive year to year. In the past, many KDD patrons have volunteered to set aside thousands of acres in order to help send water down the Klamath River. However, despite that offer, the Bureau of Reclamation still wouldn’t allow these patrons to participate in any drought response agency programs.

KDD continues to do the right thing to the best of its ability and within its legal authority to the benefit of the fish, wildlife, ecosystems, and other basin stakeholders and have made some tremendous partners over the years that share this same vision. If you’re interested in learning more, or interested in partnering with the district on any of the multiple sustainable projects the district is pursuing, the district is always looking for great partnerships.

July 8, 2022July 11, 2022

Klamath Drainage District Canal Aids Firefighters In Midland Fire

Imagine a fire on a hillside starting and it’s in your backyard. In the dry summer heat, the flames quickly grow and multiply, consuming the dying cheat grass, sagebrush and everything else on the hill. Fire doesn’t give a damn for fences, public land versus private, homes versus open ground. It just consumes.

A helicopter with a bucket drop arrives, and makes a pass over the water. But it’s a long trip back to another water source, likely Upper Klamath Lake, and only God knows how much more the fire will consume.

This is where Klamath Drainage District, and the Klamath Project for that matter, make a difference.

On July 2nd, that scenario took place. Had it been 2021 instead of 2022, the dry canal wouldn’t have done any good and perhaps some homes would have been in immediate danger. But this year, even with the scant Klamath Project, there was enough water in the KDD canal next to the fire to allow the helicopter to quickly drop water on the fire.

While federal scientists, environmental advocates and Tribal interests point at the Klamath Project and KDD as “irrigating the desert”, they fail to see the actual good agriculture in the Klamath Basin provides.

The hundreds of miles of canals, ditches and drains provide a replacement for the wetlands that were drained to allow the Klamath Basin to contribute to feeding a hungry nation and world. When the Feds at the urging of the NMFS decide to drought the Project, human health and safety are greatly impacted, as we’ve seen over the last two years.

If not for KDD’s canal, we can only speculate on the damage that fire could have caused and who it could have harmed. Luckily, it was there, full of water and able to aid the firefighters who were able to get the fire under control and protect a threatened neighborhood.

This is why when we say, “good for wildlife, good for Klamath Basin communities” we’re earnest in that statement.

What’s good for the Klamath Drainage District IS good for basin wildlife – and people.