A Klamath Basin irrigation organization is seeking more water for farmers and expressed concern about the impacts of hot and shallow water on birds and fish.

The Klamath Water Users Association requested “immediate action to prevent unnecessary disasters” in a July 12 letter to Commissioner Camille Calimim Touton of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

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“We know that our letter may trigger positional bargaining over water volumes that have plagued Klamath Project operations for too long. We implore you and your colleagues to reject this dynamic and instead take immediate action based on public interest and common sense,” wrote Paul Simmons, KWUA executive director.

Simmons asked the agency to embrace a spirit of cooperation “to address all interests and needs in the Klamath Basin, including those of farms and ranches.”

Impacts to farmers

Farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin have received little or no water for three years in a row and 50,000 acres are facing unnecessary curtailments, Simmons wrote.

Warren Act irrigators have rights to apply 3.5 acre-feet per acre but have been instructed to stop after 0.6 acre-feet this season.

The initial water supply of 230,000 acre-feet from Upper Klamath Lake was changed to 260,000 acre-feet.

But Simmons said supply will be exhausted in September if hot and dry conditions persist.

“That allocation can and should increase immediately. … We need to avoid disaster for agricultural communities and bring this year’s crops to full production and harvest,” he wrote.

Danger to waterfowl, fish

Simmons said the KWUA is worried about the high potential for disease outbreaks and mass waterfowl mortality in Lower Klamath and Tule Lake wildlife refuges.

Hot and shallow conditions led to an outbreak of avian botulism in 2020 at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, which killed about 60,000 ducks.

Earlier this year, the Tulelake Irrigation District and Klamath Drainage District coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to refill portions of the refuges, which largely had been dewatered for four years.

“These efforts have produced a remarkable recovery of the refuges’ wetlands and diverse populations of birds this spring,” Simmons wrote.

But he added that has led to fears of an even worse disaster than 2020.

KWUA and member districts have been working closely with refuge staff on approaches to water management and a “flow-through” concept has emerged as a potential solution.

Another concern is that Klamath River water temperature exceeds stressful and even lethal levels for salmon and other fish.

Monitoring of Lost River and shortnose sucker in Upper Klamath Lake also suggests a steep population decline over the past year.

Mitigating dam removal

Simmons also wrote that the Klamath Project should not be held responsible for mitigating the impacts of dam removal.

He said discussions are underway about special releases from Upper Klamath Lake to transport sediment that will be discharged into the Klamath River when the coffer dam at Iron Gate is breached in the coming months.

That sediment will be added to the considerable volume of sediment already deposited in the river as a result of dam removal and Simmons worried about the potential impacts.