Tag: KDD

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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.

KDD’s fall harvest leaves winter feed and habitat for a variety of birds
Winter flooding provides a number of benefits to the Klamath Basin and the Klamath Irrigation Project
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.

Geese in a winter flooded field in the Klamath Drainage District
Geese traveling the Pacific Flyway appreciate the “only restaurant in town”, the Klamath Drainage District
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Klamath Lawsuits Against The United States Tossed As Feds Claim “Sovereign Nation” and “Sovereign Immunity” Status

Meme of Batman slapping Robin to illustrate the United States Federal government unjustly using "sovereign nation" status to avoid a breach of contract countersuit from the Klamath Drainage District

“Every American deserves their day in court. Every American is innocent until proven guilty. These are core values enshrined in our founding document – the United States Constitution.”

  • John Garamendi

For Americans, the theory that everyone deserves their day in court is enshrined in our thoughts of the American judicial system and something we believe is protected by the Constitution of the United States. Whether you’re rich or poor, regardless of background, as a society we staunchly believe and hold close to our hearts the idea of every American being able to “have their day in court”. No one, not even the Federal government, is above the law.

However, if you happen to be a Klamath Basin irrigator, this is far from true.

Recently, the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA),  the Klamath Drainage District (KDD), Shasta View Irrigation District as well the Klamath Irrigation District (KID) brought cases against the Bureau of Reclamation hoping for relief from the Bureau’s onerous and disastrous single-species management of water from Upper Klamath Lake. In their cases, Klamath Basin Tribes up and down the river declared they were necessary parties to be involved in these lawsuits, and once the courts agreed, declared sovereign immunity and called for the cases to be dismissed.

The result? The cases were dismissed. KWUA, KDD, Shasta View and KID were denied their days in court for a final decision on how the Bureau of Reclamation uses the stored water in Upper Klamath Lake in relation to appeasing the outdated demands of the Endangered Species Act.

However, for patrons of the Klamath Drainage District, it gets even worse. 

In United States v. Klamath Drainage District, the United States on behalf of the Bureau of Reclamation sued KDD for breach of contract. At the heart of the case, the Feds argued that by KDD using its Oregon state water rights, they were in breach of contract by taking any water on behalf of KDD patrons, even despite the fact that in the past the Bureau has encouraged and preferred that KDD exercise their state water right (a separate supplemental right in the name of the district only)  in times of drought.

In examining the contracts, KDD found that the Bureau was in fact in breach and filed a countersuit. Sounds reasonable, right? Your government sues you for doing something it has always asked you to do, and you find that they’re not living up to the contract they signed, so you file a counterclaim. 

However, if you’re the Federal government, you don’t have to give the citizens their day in court or their chance for justice. Instead, you proclaim “sovereign immunity” and that you cannot be sued without an express statutory waiver of immunity. You’ve read that correctly – on behalf of the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States declared itself to be beyond reproach to the patrons of the Klamath Drainage District. Meanwhile, various Tribal entities and environmental groups continue to sue the Federal government.

Meme of Batman slapping Robin to illustrate the United States Federal government unjustly using "sovereign nation" status to avoid a breach of contract countersuit from the Klamath Drainage District
Instead of facing a breach of contract countersuit from the Klamath Drainage District, the Federal government on behalf of the Bureau of Reclamation made a “sovereign nation” claim

There is a danger to the US Constitution when the Federal government decides to bully one group of citizens in this manner while exempting others. Doing so creates a special class of citizens that can do as they please while denying others justice. And while many hate the “slippery slope” argument, this action by the United States Federal government creates a path to stripping our citizenry of its rights. If actions like this are to stand, slowly and surely the right to your day in court will have been stripped by the very people sworn to protect and uphold those same rights. 

The Federal government’s move to declare itself immune from suit by KDD patrons also sets up a situation where reasonable people are forced to make unreasonable choices. Our patrons have been trying to work with the Bureau of Reclamation to provide water for area refuges. Our patrons have been on the forefront of trying to help with sucker fish recovery and come up with solutions to clean water before it heads down the Klamath River. Our patrons have been touting the needs of the birds of the Pacific Flyway. In short, KDD patrons have been trying to foster an atmosphere of cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Federal government.

But the recent actions of the Federal government only work against this nature of our patrons to cooperate.

And the last thing we need in the Klamath Basin and the Klamath Project is less cooperation.

To say the Klamath Drainage District is dismayed by the Federal government and Bureau of Reclamation’s actions is mild. To be very frank, to see the cooperation we’ve been trying to provide, to see that actions they have encouraged us to take in the past are now seen as breaking a contract, and then to exempt themselves from being held accountable for their breaches of contract is infuriating.

We hope you will see the Feds’ actions as what they are – unconstitutional, against what our Founding Fathers envisioned for our nation, and dangerous to every American citizens’ rights.