KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Project are poised to receive 215,000 acre-feet of water from Upper Klamath Lake for the 2023 irrigation season.

Jeff Payne, deputy regional director for the Bureau of Reclamation, announced the allocation April 13 during the Klamath Water Users Association’s annual meeting at the Klamath County Fairgrounds in Klamath Falls, Ore.

That is more than four times as much as the 50,000 acre-feet of water designated for the project in April 2022, reflecting a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the region’s hydrology following three consecutive years of extreme drought.

As of April 13, the Klamath Basin — which straddles the Oregon-California border — had 191% of normal snowpack and 105% of normal precipitation for the water year dating back to Oct. 1, 2022.

“In October last year, it was not unimaginable this would be the fourth year of drought,” Payne said. “We were gratefully saved by storms at the end of December and our ‘Miracle March,’ which significantly put us into the black and allowed us to have a very comfortable allocation at this moment.”

The allocation is still short of meeting full demand for irrigators. A full allotment that would provide water for every farm in the Klamath Project would be between 350,000 and 400,000 acre-feet. One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons.

In addition to the 215,000 acre-feet of water from Upper Klamath Lake, Payne said Reclamation is also allocating 35,000 acre-feet each from Gerber and Clear Lake reservoirs. Water will be available no earlier than May 1, and Payne said regulators will reassess the allocation if conditions improve.

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But there is still one serious legal hurdle to clear.

On March 22, the Yurok Tribe filed for a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to stop all water deliveries for irrigation in the Klamath Project unless Reclamation can demonstrate it is meeting minimum streamflows for threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River.

The injunction would also require Reclamation to ensure a minimum surface elevation of 4,139.2 feet in Upper Klamath Lake on Sept. 30 for two species of endemic and endangered sucker fish, known as C’waam and Koptu.

The Yurok Tribe’s motion came after Reclamation began reducing minimum flows in the Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam by 11% on Feb. 14, and 16% on Feb. 25. Officials intended to hold more water back in Upper Klamath Lake for suckers to access shoreline spawning and rearing habitat, as required under the Endangered Species Act.

However, Payne acknowledged the water reductions came at the risk of de-watering salmon nests, or redds, downriver.

“We’re not yet out of the woods from our winter discussions about balancing ESA risks,” Payne said.

A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for 2 p.m. May 10.

About 200 people attended the KWUA’s annual meeting, headlined by U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who emphasized the importance of agriculture in the West.

“If these crops aren’t grown here in this part of the country … (then) people are not going to have them on their table,” LaMalfa said.

LaMalfa also praised the Republican-led House of Representatives for passing the Lower Energy Costs Act. The bill, he said, would expedite the permitting process for certain infrastructure projects, such as water storage and thinning forests near power lines before they can spark massive wildfires.

“We’ll keep the battle up on our end back east,” LaMalfa said. “It’s a tough one. It seems so much is against us in production agriculture, and resources in general.”

Along with this year’s water allocation, Reclamation is providing $9.85 million to the Klamath Project Drought Relief Agency to assist farmers with reducing water demand. Another $3 million will go to local tribes for habitat and ecosystem projects, and $150,000 for groundwater monitoring.

Derrick DeGroot, chairman of the Klamath County Board of Commissioners, said money is needed to help solve the basin’s water crisis, but there must be a coherent plan in place.

”Just spending all that money is horse(expletive),” DeGroot said. “We’re spending it as fast as we can, with no plan.”

What commissioners want to see, DeGroot said, is “an end to conflict in the basin. Period.”

Jeff Boyd, a farmer in Tulelake, Calif., and vice president of the KWUA Board of Directors, said irrigators are willing to work with everybody to come up with long-term solutions.

”We’re a tough bunch,” Boyd said. “We’re not going anywhere.”