Bill Heiney, a third-generation Basin irrigator and
descendant of a homesteader, was among several
irrigators who sought answers from representatives
of the Bureau of Reclamation and other federal
agencies on hand on Friday during a meeting at
Klamath County Fairgrounds.
BOR's Klamath Basin Area Office hosted the gathering
to share updated information released by NRCS, with
representative panelists from U.S. Fish & Wildlife,
California Coastal Office, and Reclamation's
Sacramento office.
Heiney and other irrigators need to know when they
can start irrigating this year, which will affect
their crops and livelihoods; answers that the Bureau
cannot yet provide due to ongoing litigation and an
evolving water year headed for a state-declared
drought declaration.
“When I bought my first piece of ground, my
grandfather, he said, 'One thing you won't have to
worry about is water,'” Heiney said, referring a
water pact his grandfather had from the U.S.
government.
“We're getting really frustrated and time is of the
essence,” he added. “If we don't get start-up dates,
it's an end date for us … We need answers
yesterday.”
First-generation farmer and irrigator Joey Gentry, a
member but not a spokesperson for the Klamath
Tribes, turned to address attendees with a different
perspective.
“This has never been a war of the cowboys and the
Indians,” Gentry said. “It's never farmers vs.
Tribes. I want to ask how we are going to do more
with less water?” she asked. “What are we doing to
take ownership of the solution rather than blaming
the Tribe, the fish, the feds?”
Jeff Nettleton, manager of the Klamath Basin Area
Office of the Bureau, and panelists from other
federal agencies addressed irrigators' frustrations
and concerns.
“We are working very hard to come up with a Project
allocation and the earliest start day that we
possibly can,” Nettleton said. “We do have a
proposed solution that we have been talking with
water users about and working hard with them as
well. We're moving that forward as rapidly as we
can.”
Scott White, executive director of Klamath Water
Users Association, also said he hopes to bring in
representatives from U.S. Department of Agriculture
and other agencies that might be able to offer some
financial relief.
Projections for inflows to Upper Klamath Lake have
significantly varied since January, and have been
projected as low as 230,000 acre feet in February,
according to Nettleton, or as high as 355,000 acre
feet.
“A lot of times by this time of year, we have a
pretty solid idea of where we're at hydrologically
and how much water we might be able to forecast for
the Project,” Nettleton said. “This year, our
hydrology is still developing.”
Nettleton said the Bureau will update information
for irrigators every couple of weeks.
“We want to give you the very best information we
possibly can so that you can make your business
decisions based on that,” he said. “We're meeting
literally all day long and sometimes through the
night to try and figure out where we're at this
water year.”
Due to storms throughout the last month, snowpack
increased from about 28 percent of average to about
47 percent of average, according to Nettleton, with
the current precipitation total at 74 percent of
average.
Nettleton said the continued increases in
precipitation and snowpack have helped, but it will
not enough for a normal water year.
“The likelihood of it catching up to average is slim
this year,” he said. “The good news is we are
significantly above 2015, which we were tracking
very closely with until about three weeks or a month
ago.”
“We're faced with a very challenging water year, and
less than average snow pack,” Nettleton added.
“As a result there are a lot more competing water
demands than there is available supply. And some of
the challenges this year include the Klamath Project
and all the agricultural needs.”
