Tag: klamath irrigation project

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KDD and Klamath Ag To Face Ongoing Grasshopper Problems in 2024

Dead grasshoppers on Stateline Road near Lower Klamath Refuge

Hanging a new calendar on the wall is usually a time to look ahead at the promise of what a new year brings.

While we’d like to reminisce about the highlights of last year and look forward to what could be, we’re unfortunately plagued by a problem from 2023.

Grasshoppers.

For Klamath Drainage District family farmers, and pretty much all of Klamath ag, last year’s grasshopper infestation is promising to pay off in troubling dividends. What seemed to start on Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge spread throughout the Klamath Basin, initially devastating farms along Stateline Road, spread like a virus to surrounding communities and irrigation districts. 

In KDD, grain crops lost tonnage, as did hay crops. Healthy pastures were stripped of foliage, requiring beef ranchers and other livestock producers to find ground outside the district or use acres they’d hoped to use later in the season. KDD farmers and ranchers also paid for more grasshopper treatment than usual to fight the pests.

In short, the grasshopper infestation was not only an ecological disaster, but also an economic disaster for Klamath Basin farmers.

At the end of November, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) released its 2023 Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Report. The report covered the damage done to Oregon agricultural producers due to infestations of Mormon crickets and grasshoppers all through the state, and that report would instruct the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of economic losses and potential programs to help mitigate the insect damage.

Much to the dismay and chagrin of Klamath ag, the ODA’s report indicated there was very little damage caused by grasshoppers to area producers, and furthermore, no economic damages.

This graphic was taken from the ODA’s 2023 Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Report to show grasshopper survey densities. The red outline added to emphasize the Klamath County area.
This graphic was taken from the ODA’s 2023 Grasshopper and Mormon Cricket Report to show estimated grasshopper damages.

On December 12th, 2023, Klamath County Commissioner, Dave Henslee, held a workshop with the Board of Commissioners to discuss the 2023’s grasshopper damage and the ODA’s report. At the meeting, attendees heard report after report of the damage and losses Basin farmers suffered from the grasshoppers. Klamath Water Users Association’s director of water policy, Moss Driscoll, estimated the ripple effect of economic damage could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars in the course of following years.

Image of Tim O'Connor, KDD Rancher, from Klamath County Board of Commissioners' December 12, 2023 Work Session about the Klamath Basin grasshopper infestation.
KDD Rancher, Tim O’Connor, giving testimony at the Klamath County Board of Commissioners’ December 12, 2023 Work Session about the Klamath Basin grasshopper infestation.

Towards the end of the meeting, ODA’s director, Lauren Henderson, joined the discussion via Zoom and indicated that the report had been merely taken out of context; ODA’s pest monitoring sites didn’t capture the same number of bugs that the rest of the Klamath Basin was seeing, and only affected Federal lands, 6,000 acres of which are in KDD. 

Eventually, he did concede that Klamath ag did indeed suffer losses. And thanks to Cody Holthouse from the ODA, who joined Mr. Henderson on the phone, the department is still taking grasshopper damage reports.

Unfortunately, there will be more for KDD patrons and the Klamath ag community to report.

In the December board meeting, we heard reports of hay bales being opened up and the centers of them being emptied out, due to grasshoppers that were baled in the forage eating their fill. At auction, average calf weight was down. And if that isn’t enough of a financial brunt for farmers and ranchers to carry, banks are backing away from financing operating lines and loans. 

There’s also the worry of grasshopper eggs being spread in the district through feeding livestock the infested hay. Unless there’s a vicious, hard freeze, the eggs will likely hatch in 2024, exacerbating the 2023 grasshopper problems. 

Getting In Front of the  Klamath Basin 2024 Grasshopper Infestation

Fortunately, Klamath Basin ag’s voice has been heard and work is being done to try and head off another potentially disastrous grasshopper infestation.

The week of January 29th, KDD is hosting a session with ODA director Lauren Henderson to talk about what happened in 2023, and hopefully out of the discussions a plan for 2024 will evolve. When a date and time are confirmed, we will share it on the KDD Facebook page.

Image of the Oregon Department of Agriculture's 2023 Public Grasshopper Survey Report Form
To fill out this form, please visit https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/9fb3cf8db4b64d93812eff265128a2b7

Regardless of whether or not members of the ag community are able to make it to the meeting, we strongly recommend taking time to fill out the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s 2023 Public Grasshopper Survey Report Form (you can click on the image on the right to access the reporting form). At this time, the ODA is committed to receiving these reports, and they will help the department ascertain the level of damage 2023’s infestation caused.

To help head-off future infestations, especially those starting on the Lower Klamath refuge, we need policymakers to commit to getting water to our wildlife refuges. As they found on the Klamath Marsh in 2013, drought conditions worsened grasshopper outbreaks. By supporting plans such as KDD’s restoration project, future grasshopper plagues can be minimized. 

With all of the other challenges Klamath Basin family farmers and ranchers face, it’s unfortunate that grasshoppers appear to be another ongoing blow being dealt to our communities. Hopefully another infestation won’t materialize in 2024. If one does, we will be prepared so we can minimize the damage to our local economy and ecosystem.

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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