Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Basin Area Office
announced late Wednesday afternoon that up to 3,500 acre
feet is available for delivery to Klamath Project
irrigators starting today and running through May 31
before deliveries start on June 1.
The amount allows for a diversion rate of approximately
500 acre feet per day from Upper Klamath Lake and the
Klamath River in the remaining week of May, according to
Jeff Nettleton, manager of Reclamation’s Klamath Basin
Area Office.
“This is still additional amounts of water, not the
start of delivery,” said Laura Williams, BOR’s public
affairs officer. “This just is to carry over and get
people through June 1.”
But that doesn’t mean the announcement didn’t draw
excitement from the Klamath Project. Flows will begin
again at the A canal early Thursday morning, according
to Tyler Martin, watermaster for Klamath Irrigation
District.
“This is a huge deal for the Project irrigators,” Martin
said.
Martin reminded KID patrons to call their ditch-rider as
soon as possible to get on a wait list for water, due to
limited supply, as well as the irrigation district
office with any questions at 541-882-6661 between 8 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“We’ve been able to make the most of the very limited
water supply that we’ve had this year,” Martin said. “We
expect to continue to manage this additional allotment
to the best of our abilities. It’s my sincerest hope
that this additional amount of water can get to the
folks who really need it before a crop failure.
Obviously there’s still a large amount of acreage in the
Project that has been left unirrigated due to the
limited supply made available in the month of May.”
And where is water coming from?
First, 422 acre feet of the original 13,500 acre feet
authorized for delivery by the end of May still remains
in Upper Klamath Lake and is available for use by the
Project, Nettleton said. Second, accretions between Link
River Dam and Iron Gate Dam have been higher than
anticipated in the last few days, providing PacifiCorp
with additional operational flexibility.
Specifically, these higher accretions will allow
PacifiCorp to ramp Link River Dam down to 400 cfs more
quickly than originally planned and subsequently
maintain Link River Dam releases at 400 cfs through the
end of May. Ultimately these operations are anticipated
to provide additional volume in Upper Klamath Lake above
that needed to meet the end of May threshold elevation.
“We have been in regular contact with Reclamation and
doing whatever we can do within our restrictions to help
make water available in this tough time,” said Bob
Gravely, spokesperson for PacifiCorp. “To the extent
that we can adjust our operations to make more water
available when it’s needed, that’s what we’re trying to
do.”
Reclamation anticipates Iron Gate dam flows to be at the
powerhouse capacity of 1,750 cubic feet per second by
Thursday and the entire ramp down operation to be
complete by Monday. In combination, Upper Klamath Lake
elevations are projected to rise by approximately 4,970
acre feet above the end of May threshold.
“Reclamation plans to reassess hydrologic conditions,
and lake elevations relative to the end of May threshold
on May 29, and will make a determination whether
additional deliveries or adjustments to this diversion
schedule can occur at that time,” Nettleton said.
