Surplus Rain, Snow Fills Klamath Basin With Hope
By Matthew Preusch, The Oregonian
January 25, 2006

KLAMATH FALLS -- Early winter rain and snow are filling reservoirs and flooding the lowlands of the Klamath Basin, raising hopes that the drought-plagued and conflict-weary region may get its first good water year of the decade.

But with months to go before the irrigation season starts, no one is celebrating yet.

"I think a lot of people still just don't want to jinx it, and I don't want to either," said Mike Connelly, a former rancher now directing a habitat restoration group in the basin.

In 2001, the federal government curtailed water for farmers in the 240,000-acre Klamath Project to protect endangered fish in Upper Klamath Lake, the primary source of irrigation water in the basin.

That year, the basin boiled over into a national flashpoint for debates over water use and the Endangered Species Act. Tensions have settled to a simmer during the intervening dry years. While the government hasn't shut off the taps again, low water has contributed to massive fish kills here and downstream in the Klamath River.

But now, summer flows into Upper Klamath Lake are expected to be 132 percent of normal, according to the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That could mean enough water for farmers, fish and wildlife. "It's looking very good at this point," said Jon Lea, state snow survey supervisor for the conservation service.

As of Monday, precipitation in the basin measured 30.2 inches, 154 percent of the average since the start of the water year Oct. 1, and mountain snowpack was at 144 percent of the average, according to the conservation service.

Rain and early snowmelt are recharging the lake and two other smaller water storage areas, Gerber and Clear lakes.

"Most of the reservoirs that haven't filled since '97 are either filled or are getting real close," said Vern Church, state watermaster for the Klamath Basin.

In some ways, there's almost too much water heading into the basin's heavily engineered system of sumps, pumps, ditches and dikes.

"We've got it running out of our ears," said Dave Mauser, a wildlife biologist for the six Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges.

For example, marshy ponds at the Tule Lake refuge southeast of Klamath Falls in California capture runoff from the upper basin and are already maxed out, leaving little wiggle room should another large storm threaten to spill over levies and flood fields.

"It's kind of either feast or famine, or flood or whatever," said Jerry Pyle, assistant manager of the Tulelake Irrigation District. "Everyone is trying to get rid of their extra water right now" by moving it down the system into the Klamath River, he said.

While potentially damaging to agriculture, a little flooding will help wildlife, said Mauser, the biologist. "It turns a lot of the basin into natural wetlands, and birds like that," he said.

The Klamath isn't the only basin that's had a good early winter. Most of Oregon's dry side is seeing more snowpack than it has in years. In Central Oregon, the Mt. Bachelor ski area has received 122 inches of snow since the beginning of January.

Farther east, precipitation in December was twice the average in the Owyhee and Malheur basins. Consequently, flows in the Silvies River near Burns could be 187 percent of average this summer.

Replenishing groundwater

In the Klamath, the saturation also may help recharge the basin's groundwater, which has been depleted by new wells meant to ease the demand on surface water.

Since 2003, to meet baseline flow requirements for endangered species in the Klamath River, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has substituted well water for water diverted from Upper Klamath Lake, the river's source. In addition, the bureau pays some farmers to use their own wells to irrigate in lieu of taking water from the lake. Last year that translated to about 65,000 acre-feet, or 21 billion gallons, of water pumped from the ground.

"You can see the effects of that pumping," said Kyle Gorman, regional director for the Oregon Water Resources Department. "It's been a steady three to four foot annual decline in the groundwater table."

If the ground becomes sufficiently saturated, the water table could recover, he said.

So for now, most people in the basin are just keeping their fingers crossed.

As the rain fell and snow piled up earlier this month, Connelly, the former rancher, sent out an e-mail to many basin stakeholders saying maybe this year they won't have to fight about water.

"I got messages back saying don't jump the gun on that," he said.

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