Tag: lower klamath lake

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Klamath Drainage District Sends Water to Unit 2 on the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Water flowing from Ady Canal in the Klamath Drainage District to Unit 2 in the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

If you’ve driven Stateline Road with the windows down lately, you’ve heard the trilling of blackbirds, honking of Canada geese, and the squawking of herons coming from the Lower Klamath refuge.

It’s as if they’re celebrating the return of the wetlands to the refuge.

Since mid-April, the Klamath Drainage District has been sending water to Unit 2 of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (LKNWR).

Unit 2 of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge with water from Klamath Drainage District.
KDD has been sending recycled water from the district to Unit 2 of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.

Using recycled water from within the district, KDD has been able to send almost 120 acre-feet of water a day to Lower Klamath via the Ady Canal. At the time of this writing (approximately three weeks), that amounts to almost 2,500 acre-feet.

By employing KDD’s recirculation pumping stations, the district is able to recycle up to 35,000 acre-feet of water a year. This enables the district to reuse or recycle more than 75% of the water used by its patrons.

This benefits KDD family farmers and ranchers by ensuring they have water during the growing season. It also creates ecological opportunities, such as providing water to LKNWR. 

KDD landowners have long been ardent supporters of the Lower Klamath refuge. Over the last four years, the district has sent water across the border to LKNWR to help allay the water allocation shortcomings. One instance, between December of 2021 and August, 2022, KDD sent approximately 3,100 acre-feet of much needed water to the Lower Klamath wetlands. 

After the historic droughting of Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge by the Bureau of Reclamation, the storied wetlands are having a banner year after going dry for several years.

On March 7th, KDD along with Modoc Nation, South Suburban Sanitary District, Ducks Unlimited, Friends of Klamath Basin Birding, the Klamath Audubon Society, and the Klamath Water Users Association hosted the Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour to bring attention to the Lower Klamath refuge and discuss projects that could bring long-term water to its wetlands.

Not long after the Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour, on March 25th, with much fanfare and press coverage, Tulelake Irrigation District fired up its historic D-Plant station to pump water from Sump 1A in Tule Lake through Sheepy Ridge to the desiccated beds of Lower Klamath Lake. However, due to the Bureau of Reclamation’s restricted water allocation for the Klamath Project 2024 irrigation season, pumping ceased on April 15th.

In the three weeks that TID pumped water to Lower Klamath, water flowed throughout the refuge, bringing much needed moisture to units that haven’t received water in over three years. And with the water, the wetlands returned.

The combination of the districts’ efforts has been a boon to the birds of the Pacific Flyway as well as for Klamath Basin wildlife. An abandoned rookery along the canal between Unit 2 and Unit 3 is showing signs of life again as herons and egrets reclaim the trees for nesting. Ducks and geese are taking advantage of the rejuvenated wetlands while raptors once again patrol the skies over LKNWR. 

Even coyotes, deer, and antelope appear to be more abundant in Lower Klamath now than they have been in the past four years.

A bald eagle watches over geese
The water TID sent through D Plant to the Lower Lake Refuge from Tule Lake revitalized the wetlands.

This year has started off with a strong showing of support for LKNWR, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to ensure its water security. 

While KDD and its patrons will continue to find ways to provide water for Lower Klamath, the collaboration and support shown on March 7th will need to come to fruition if we’re going to prevent the nation’s first waterfowl refuge from going dry again.

Hopefully, with the refuge’s recovery on full display, the public and Klamath Basin stakeholders see the value of keeping the basin’s wetlands wet.

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Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour Focuses On Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and Collaboration

Amelia Raquel, Regional Biologist for Ducks Unlimited, introducing DU's Lower Klamath projects and members from the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

(Note: This article was written by the Klamath Drainage District’s PR administrator on behalf of the Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour. This article also appears on Basin Ag News and on the Klamath Water Users Association’s website.)

News of the 2024 Winter Wings Festival cancellation spread through the Klamath Basin like the wind over the barren lakebed of the Lower Klamath National National Wildlife Refuge. 

Image of Sandhill crane in water created by Mary Williams Hyde.

 

Known as  in the Klamath Basin winter for decades. The workshops brought birders and tourists to our community, while the chance to see a variety of raptors and birds migrating on the Pacific Flyway drew in photographers from all over the world. In recent years, Winter Wings also gave Klamath ag a chance to share how farms provide much needed habitat for area wildlife and the Pacific Flyway, especially with the historic dewatering of two national wildlife refuges.

 

the nation’s oldest birding festival, Winter Wings provided a bright spot

When word passed through the birdwatching, conservation, and agricultural circles the Winter Wings Festival was canceled, phones started ringing. A conversation regarding the impacts of canceling the Winter Wings Festival between Klamath Drainage District manager, Scott White, and Board Chair of the South Suburban Sanitary District (SSSD), Joe Spendolini, ended the call with the two agreeing for the organizations to arrange a tour similar to one White had organized for the festival in previous years.

In a matter of weeks, White pulled together a team that included the Modoc Nation, South Suburban Sanitary District, Ducks Unlimited, Friends of Klamath Basin Birding, the Klamath Basin Audubon Society, and the Klamath Water Users Association to create what would become the Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour.

The Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour team’s goal was to highlight the importance of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (LKNWR) to the Basin and the collaboration needed to create water security for the nation’s first waterfowl refuge. Invitations were sent to guests at federal agencies, conservation organizations, local leaders, and Klamath Basin Tribes. On March 7th, the week’s expeditiously organized tour left the Running Y Resort to see and discuss what could happen.

Lakeside Farms' Dr. Karl Wenner discussing the importance of the Tule Smoke Club and Lower Klamath Wetlands.
Dr. Karl Wenner, owner of Lakeside Farms, discussing the importance of the Tule Smoke Hunting Club and Lower Klamath region to the first people of the Klamath Basin and the ecosystem.

From the Klamath Drainage District’s F/FF pumping station through the district, down to where the Ady Canal meets Stateline and on to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, the tour centered on projects and plans that KDD, Ducks Unlimited, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Modoc Nation were working on to help improve conditions on the refuge and increase its access to water.

The discussions about the history of Lower Klamath Lake, the people who lived there from time immemorial, the formation of the Klamath Irrigation Project, the creation of KDD and LKNWR, and the projects provided context for the conversations that would take place throughout the day.

A lot of those conversations, both between individuals and in the larger groups, focused on collaboration. There was a quiet acknowledgement that everyone was tied together, and regardless if the guests were there on behalf of farmers, fish, waterfowl, or clean water, no one would be able to succeed in their goal without the other partners succeeding in theirs. 

Ken Sundusky, Chief Robert Burkeybile, Council Member Braxton Graham, and Homelands Manager Brian Herbert of the Modoc Nation.
Ken Sandusky, Resource and Development Director, talked about the Shapa’sh Landscape Restoration Project with Modoc Nation Chief Robert Burkeybile, Council Member Braxton Graham , and Homelands Manager Brian Herbert.

“Today provided lines of communication to open up once again. It was a safe space for interested parties to speak, share ideas and share our struggles,” wrote Normajean Cummings, enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes. “It was also an opportunity to see some changes Agriculture is doing to make a difference. Learning more about the difference wetlands can make is eye awakening.”

Ms. Cummings added, “I’m afraid that drought is the new normal, and I think all our communities need to be able to come together to collaborate and find new practices. We have seen what hasn’t worked in the past, but there are some new models out there that bring me hope. I hope to remain involved in seeking solutions and community building. I also hope for more opportunities like today where we can all gather, talk, offer thoughts and ideas and find a path forward that will benefit us all. Opportunities to learn from one another.” 

Karuk Tribe Council Member Troy Hockaday’s takeaway of the discussions, “Today was amazing to hear from the farmers and the government and the fisheries people about the problems in the basin. I came out of the day that we all have the same mindset to make the Basin better for everybody and a quality of water for the fish and habitat, I hope some of discussions that we talked about will help with further future programs and projects in the basin, to help water control for the Klamath river base.”

Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour group at the Ady Canal.
At the Ady Canal, the Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour guests listened to representatives Greg Austin and John Vradenburg discuss getting more water to LKNWR.

“Five to six years ago, we couldn’t get a meeting with anyone from the Tribes, and today we had folks from the Modoc Nation, Karuk, and the Klamath Tribes come to this meeting,” said Bill Walker, board president of the Klamath Drainage District. “I feel strongly that we can fix the problems we’re all facing because we’re all working together. I can’t thank everyone enough for coming and getting the doors open. We need to get together again and keep this momentum moving.” 

The day was successful from the point of view of bringing together partners from a variety of backgrounds, interests, and needs, and to get them talking. However, the Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour serves as a starting point for bringing water security to the Lower Klamath refuge and other initiatives for the Klamath Basin. Whether it’s KDD’s Replumbing the Klamath plan, SSSD’s wastewater treatment facility to provide water to the refuge, Ducks Unlimited’s highline canal and pumping station for LKNWR, or the Modoc Nation and Modoc National Forest’s Shapa’sh Landscape Restoration Project, more hard conversations and collaboration will be needed.

And hopefully, the spirit of collaboration we saw on March 7th will continue to push the momentum forward on these projects and more for the future of all creatures that are dependent on the Klamath watershed.

KDD Manager, Scott White, discussing the district’s plans for adding solar panels during lunch at Liskey Farms.
The Lower Klamath Renaissance Tour stopped at KDD’s F/FF Pumping Station along Hwy 97 to talk about the importance of this station to get water to LKNWR .
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The Impact of KDD to the Pacific Flyway for 2022 Fall Migration

Ducks taking flight in canal in the Klamath Drainage District

Fall migration is upon us! Visiting the Klamath Drainage District, you’ll see the tell-tale “V”s of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway and hear the calls of geese as they light in the district’s fields to rest on their long trip south. Depending on the time of day, flocks come in wave-after-wave, providing a visual feast for bird watchers and hunters alike.

With that in mind, it seems like a good time to take a look at the 2022 migratory bird numbers for KDD. 

At the end of May, the numbers from the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2022 bird survey of the Klamath Basin were released. 

Klamath Drainage District landowners are proud that their fields and pastures provide important habitat for birds migrating on the Pacific Flyway. Between the droughts that have hit the Klamath Basin for the last several years, mismanagement of the Klamath Project, and then the historic shut-down of the Project and subsequent historic drying-up of Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges by the Bureau of Reclamation, KDD patrons have seen their lands as a safe haven for migratory birds looking for a pitstop on along the Pacific Flyway.

Snow geese in flight in Klamath Drainage District
A total of 8,404 were attributed to Lower Klamath Lake, almost of which were on KDD lands.

Though anecdotal evidence supports our belief that KDD plays a vital role for Klamath Basin wildlife and migratory birds. Thanks to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), we are able to share actual numbers of what we’re seeing in the field, and whether or not our claims of KDD’s importance to the Pacific Flyway are supported. 

With the numbers provided by USFWS, we’re able to look at a snapshot that shows just how vital KDD is to birds. Looking at November 3rd, the peak of migration through the Klamath Basin, the Klamath Drainage District had over 180,000 birds on its lands. That’s significant because at that time Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges had no water in them, meaning that the number of birds counted for Tule Lake and Lower Klamath were counted in KDD. And while we’re proud that KDD could help with facilitating the waterfowl migration, if you look at past migration numbers, there’s still quite a bit of work to be done in the Klamath Basin in regards to the Pacific Flyway. 

2022 Klamath Basin Pacific Flyway Waterfowl Migration Numbers
The Pacific Flyway waterfowl migration numbers for the Klamath Basin on November 3, 2022

Pouring through the bird count numbers on November 3, 2022, a few interesting facts pop up:

    • Sandhill cranes – 1,948 were counted. Last fall we saw large flocks of these giant birds in the fields, casually counting hundreds of them at a time. 
    •  170,032 ducks were found in KDD. In comparison, that day 93,540 were counted on Upper Klamath Lake. 
    • Looking at geese, a total of 8,404 were attributed to Lower Klamath. If we compare that to Upper Klamath again, 1,798 were counted there.
    • Of the 170,032 ducks counted in KDD, which breed was represented the most? The Northern Pintail, with 137,262 birds counted. Next was our favorite green-headed friend the Mallard, with 8,852 counted.

Evaluating the overall numbers shared by the USFWS and the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the number of migratory birds passing through the Klamath Basin seems incredible. However, this represents only 5% of what the Klamath Basin could support. The region is hugely important for the Pacific Flyway, and when actions by the Federal government leave Klamath Basin refuges dry, agricultural lands such as KDD become increasingly vital. Now imagine if our refuges hadn’t been allowed to go completely dry by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Klamath Project had been operated as designed.

Sandhill Cranes in Klamath Drainage District
1,948 Sandhill cranes were counted in Klamath Drainage District fields.

KDD landowners should be proud of the work they and the board do on behalf of Klamath Basin wildlife and the Pacific Flyway. The numbers show how important agricultural lands are to the ducks and geese migrating through the Klamath Basin, especially during these times. Add the partnerships and conservation projects the district is working on, such as KDD’s restoration plan, there’s a lot of remarkable things happening in the Klamath Drainage District.

Before wrapping this up, we’d like to extend a big thank you to John Vrandenburg for taking the time to share this information and walking us through the data. Thank you very much, John!