Tag: klamath river

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KDD Manager Moderates REAL Oregon Panel

The panel for the REAL Oregon discussion held in Merrill, Oregon, at the Civic Center.

REAL Oregon hosts panel about Klamath Basin Water

Members of REAL Oregon’s Class 8 learned about Klamath Basin water issues from stakeholders from throughout the watershed

On a blustery November evening, Class 8 of REAL Oregon got a firsthand look of the challenges of Klamath Basin water issues.

Following a day of touring the Klamath Basin that included stops at the former J.C. Boyle dam site and Spencer Creek with Klamath Water Users Association’s Director of Water Policy, Moss Driscoll, the bus rolled into the Merrill Civic Center for a panel discussion titled, “Dam! Now What?”

The eight-person panel was filled by representatives for economic, Tribal, agricultural, and governmental interests in the ongoing Klamath Basin water discussions. Sitting on the panel were:

    • Darren Rutledge, Executive Director, The Klamath Idea
    • Becky Hyde, Upper Klamath Basin Ag Collaborative
    • Ken Griggs, Acting Refuge Manager, US Fish & Wildlife Service Klamath Refuge Complex
    • Willie Ray, Jr., Chairman of the Klamath Tribes
    • Jonathan Teichert, City Manager, City of Klamath Falls
    • Dave Hensley, Klamath County Board of Commissioners
    • Frankie Myers, Vice Chairman, Yurok Tribe
    • Tracey Liskey, KWUA President and Klamath Drainage District board member
The panel for the REAL Oregon discussion held in Merrill, Oregon, at the Civic Center.
The REAL Oregon panel for “Dam! Now What?” featured stakeholders from up and down the Klamath River watershed.

After audience and panel introductions, discussion moderator Scott White, KDD general manager and member of REAL Oregon’s Pioneer Class, jumped into the conversations.

With the recent completion of Klamath River dam removal, White focused the discourse on the history of the Klamath dams and the panelists’ thoughts about them, what dam removal means to the stakeholders and their groups, and what they foresee with salmon returning to the Upper Klamath Basin.

Klamath Drainage District general manager, Scott White, moderated the REAL Oregon panel.
KDD General Manager and REAL Oregon alumnus, Scott White, hosted the panel discussion.

As expected, the conversation was lively and passionate, though friendly.

Panelists shared their frustrations about the dam removal process, as well as their hopes for their communities now that the structures were out. One point of consensus was the fact that with the dams are out and the salmon are coming, the focus needs to shift rebuilding trust and working together on restoration efforts in the entire Klamath River watershed.

Tracey Liskey, KDD board member and KWUA president, spoke to the audience about the effect of salmon returning to the Upper Klamath Basin on agriculture.
Klamath Tribes’ Chairman, Willie Ray Jr., gave his perspective on what salmon returning to the Klamath Basin represents to the tribe.

At the end of the panelist conversation, the REAL Oregon audience had time for a brief question and answer session. Like the panel discussion, the responses to Class 8’s questions highlighted the complexity of Klamath Basin water issues as well as the need for cooperation.

REAL Oregon Class 8 member asks the "Dam! Now What?" panel a question.
REAL Oregon’s Class 8 audience asked the panel questions after the main discussion.

What is REAL Oregon?

Standing for Resource Education and Agricultural Leadership, REAL Oregon is a program operated by the Oregon Agricultural Education Foundation (OAEF) through the Oregon Farm Bureau.

With a focus on Oregon agriculture, the REAL Oregon program “is a leadership enhancement and development program designed for farming, ranching, forestry, and commercial fishing professionals, producers, affiliated industries, association staff, public agency personnel, and members of resource related boards, commissions, and associations”.

Each Class starts in November and runs through March, with class members attending a monthly session in a different part of the state. While the sessions focus on training Oregon’s future ag leaders about working with government, dealing with the media, and skills that are useful in the boardroom, the program also delves into subjects specific to Oregon agriculture, such as November’s topic, “Klamath Water Project”.

Class 1, also known as the Pioneer Class, graduated in March of 2017. Since then, REAL Oregon has educated over 130 alumni.

“Frankly, it is an honor and a privilege to be an alumnus of the pioneer class and accompanied by such prestigious leaders,” said White. “We still attract the finest talent in the state. I think that says a lot about this program”.

To learn more about REAL Oregon and Class 8, visit https://realoregon.net/.

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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