Klamath Drainage District Prepares for Salmon in Klamath River

KDD has been working with various partners to ensure water security for district family farmers and ranchers while ensuring success for endangered fish populations.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Scott White, Klamath Drainage District
General Manager
Email: scott.white@klamathdrainagedistrict.org
Phone: 541-884-1739

Klamath Falls, OR – On September 26th, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shared a short, 11-second video of a Chinook salmon leaping from the last pool of the Keno Dam fish ladder on its way up the Klamath River.

While social media commentators celebrated and scrutinized the video, the Klamath Drainage District board has been preparing for this moment.

KDD has two diversion points on the Klamath River – the Ady Canal and the North Canal. Both are possible avenues for salmon making their way into the district, with the Ady Canal being one of the first diversion points the Chinook would encounter on the Klamath River in Oregon.

“We have been very aware of this possibility and have been planning with a variety of partners and stakeholders on how we can ensure the success of these fish if they enter the district while providing water security for our landowners,” said KDD Manager, Scott White. “We’ve been working to find a balance to ensure the district’s family farms continue for generations while protecting salmon and sucker fish populations.”

Part of the preparation for salmon in the district can be found in KDD’s Ady Canal Reconnection Project, also known as the Lower Klamath Reconnection Project or colloquially as Replumbing the Klamath. This project focuses on permanently connecting the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (LKNWR) to the Klamath River, providing habitat for birds that use the refuge as well as for potential spawning grounds for C’waam and Koptu populations. By opening up Ady Canal for fish passage to LKNWR, migrating salmon could also access Lower Klamath Lake.

The original plans were to keep fish from accessing the district’s canals and drains by building large fish screens at the North Canal and Ady Canal diversions. However, the plan has evolved to have smaller screens installed at turnouts along the canals where water is allowed on to fields. By installing fish screens at these turnouts, fish will be able to access Lower Klamath Lake.

“Let’s be clear – there are no guarantees that salmon will make it into the district. But if they do, we want to be prepared and our farmers and ranchers to be protected,” said White. “I’m grateful to the partners we have working on this project, and in regards to the fish screens, I would like to especially thank the Family Water Alliance for their guidance on this.”

The installation of the first fish screen is slated for 2026 pending KPFA promised funding from Oregon and the United States.

To learn more about the Lower Klamath Reconnection Project, please visit https://klamathdrainagedistrict.org/replumbing-the-klamath/. From there, you can also find a list of the organizations that are partnering with KDD on this project.

About the Klamath Drainage District:

Klamath Drainage District (KDD) is a 27,000-acre district located in southern Oregon bordering the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in California. KDD proactively works to improve distribution and delivery of its scarce water resources including recycling over 35,000 acre-feet annually through its recently installed recirculation pumping plants. Of this recycled water, most is reused to grow crops, but a percentage is used for growers outside of the district and used for habitat improvement and other refuge purposes. KDD is home to one of the largest concentrations of bald eagles in the lower 48 states and prides itself on its restoration activities and the tremendous wildlife viewing opportunities it provides.

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The Ady Canal diversion from the Klamath River before it enters into the Klamath Drainage District at pumping station F/FF. — The Klamath Drainage District’s Ady Canal diversion point before entering the district, located across from the district’s F/FF pumping stations along Highway 97, just north of Worden, OR. Photo: Darcy Hill, Klamath Drainage District.

The Ady Canal diversion before it enters into the Klamath Drainage District north of Worden, Oregon. — The Ady Canal diversion point from the Klamath River before it enters into the Klamath Drainage District, located just north of Worden, OR, on Highway 97. Photo: Darcy Hill, Klamath Drainage District.

The North Canal diversion from the Klamath River into KDD, south of Midland, OR. — Klamath Drainage District’s North Canal diversion from the Klamath River just south of Midland, OR. Photo: Darcy Hill, Klamath Drainage District.

The North Canal diversion from the Klamath River before it enters into Klamath Drainage District, just south of Midland, OR. — The North Canal diversion from the Klamath River before it enters the Klamath Drainage District. This diversion point is located just south of Midland, OR, off Highway 97. Photo: Darcy Hill, Klamath Drainage District.

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.

Tag: midland oregon

Klamath Drainage District Prepares for Salmon in Klamath River

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