The Klamath Project is a water-management project developed by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

to supply farmers with irrigation water and farmland in the

Klamath Basin The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, ...

. The project also supplies water to the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The project was one of the first to be developed by the Reclamation Service, which later became the Bureau of Reclamation. The two main water supply sources for the project are

Upper Klamath Lake Upper Klamath Lake (sometimes called Klamath Lake) (Klamath: ?ews, "lake" ) is a large, shallow freshwater lake east of the Cascade Range in south-central Oregon in the United States. The largest body of fresh water by surface area in Oregon, it ...

and the

Klamath River The Klamath River (Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') flows through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second larges ...

. The main bodies of water in the Klamath Project are Clear Lake Reservoir,

Link River The Link River is a short river connecting Upper Klamath Lake to Lake Ewauna in the city of Klamath Falls in the U.S. state of Oregon.McArthur, p. 580 Draining a basin of , the river begins at the southern end of Klamath Lake and flows a short d ...

, Lost River, Lower Klamath Lake,

Tule Lake Tule Lake ( ) is an intermittent lake covering an area of , long and across, in northeastern Siskiyou County and northwestern Modoc County in California, along the border with Oregon. Geography Tule Lake is fed by the Lost River. The elev ...

, and Upper Klamath Lake. The project fills these reservoirs from the spring

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

, peaking generally in March and April, and keeps the runoff from flooding the historical marshes that are a large portion of the present farmland. There are also many minor streams in the area. Lost River historically drained into Tule Lake, an

endorheic lake An endorheic lake (also called a sink lake or terminal lake) is a collection of water within an endorheic basin, or sink, with no evident outlet. Endorheic lakes are generally saline as a result of being unable to get rid of solutes left in the l ...

. The project now diverts excess Lost River water to the Klamath River, allowing portions of Tule Lake to be reclaimed. Some of

rangeland Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, sa ...

have been transformed into active farmland through the Klamath Project. Of that total, were recovered by draining a portion of Lower Klamath Lake, a shallow marsh straddling the Oregon-California border between the California towns of Dorris and Tulelake. Tule Lake was also reduced in size by diverting water from Lost River to the Klamath River. Farmers in the project raise barley, alfalfa hay, and other hay, oats, potatoes, and wheat. The Klamath Basin is on the Pacific Flyway and the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges Complex is visited by migratory game birds every year. The project should not be confused with the

Klamath River Hydroelectric Project The Klamath River Hydroelectric Project is a series of hydroelectric dams and other facilities on the mainstem of the Klamath River, in a watershed on both sides of the California/Oregon border. The infrastructure was constructed between 1903 a ...

, a set of hydro dams on the mainstem of the Klamath operated by for-profit energy company

PacifiCorp PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the western United States. PacifiCorp has two business units: # Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington. # ...

. The

Link River Dam The Link River Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Link River in the city of Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1921 by the California Oregon Power Company (COPCO), the predecessor of PacifiCorp, which continues to operate th ...

belongs to both.

History

Construction began on the project in 1906 with the building of the main "A" Canal. Water was first made available May 22, 1907. The Clear Lake Dam was completed in 1910, the Lost River Diversion Dam and many of the distribution structures in 1912, and the Anderson-Rose Diversion Dam (formally Lower Lost River Diversion Dam) in 1921. The Malone Diversion Dam on Lost River was built in 1923 to divert water to Langell Valley. A contract executed February 24, 1917, between the California-Oregon Power Company (now Pacific Power) and the United States authorized the company to construct the

for the benefit of the project and for the company's use, and in particular extended to the water users of the Klamath Project certain preferential power rates. The dam was completed in 1921. In more recent times, the Klamath Project has been the focus of nationwide controversy. The Lost River and Shortnose suckers were listed as endangered in 1988. This, as well as concerns for salmon runs, led to a cutoff of irrigation water to local farmers on April 6, 2001. After many protests by farmers and concerned citizens alike, the decision was reversed the next year. The impact of the salmon kill was detailed in the book ''Salmon is Everything''. A 2002 report by the National Research Council however, determined that the decision to stop delivery of irrigation water in 2001 was not scientifically justified and that the 2002 fish kill was caused by a combination of natural factors. A massive die off of salmon occurred in 2002 due to low water and high temperatures in the lower reaches of the river during the salmon migration. Studies showed that drought conditions and low flow from the entire drainage were among the factors that caused a unique mix of conditions to allow a gill rot disease to attack the salmon population. The conflict in balancing the economic and ecological concerns of the region was the focus of the 2006 book '' River of Renewal: Myth and History in the Klamath Basin''. Today, there is still much antagonism between opposing sides on this issue.

Engineering

Dams

The Klamath Project contains seven dams, all of them on tributaries of the Klamath River itself. In chronological order of completion, they are: * the Clear Lake Dam, completed in 1910, replaced 2002, for flood control and water storage. It impounds Lost River to form Clear Lake Reservoir * the Lost River Diversion Dam, completed in 1912, diverts the waters of the Lost River into the Klamath, thereby controlling flow into the adjacent Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge and reclaimed parts of the

bed * the

, completed in 1921 for flood control, water storage, and hydro power. It impounds

to form

* the Anderson-Rose Diversion Dam, completed in 1921 as a diversion dam, on the Lost River close to

Merrill, Oregon Merrill is a city in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The population was 844 at the 2010 census. Merrill is an agricultural area and is home to an annual Potato Festival. The area was also part of the Klamath Basin water crisis pitting ...

* the Malone Diversion Dam, finished in 1923, on the upper Lost River * the Miller Diversion Dam, completed in 1924, on Miller Creek, below Gerber Dam * the Gerber Dam, completed in 1925 for water storage, impounding Miller Creek to form Gerber Reservoir

Canals

There are over of

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...

s, laterals and diversion channels in the Klamath Project. The canals transport irrigation water from Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, Clear Lake and the Lost River, and Tule Lake. There are two tunnels: the "A" Canal (the main canal that starts just above the Link River Dam) has an underground section as it flows through Klamath Falls, and the Tule Lake Tunnel. There are almost of drainage canals in the Klamath Project which allow land that would otherwise be

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

to be farmed. The Lower Klamath Lake was before it was drained and would naturally evaporate about each summer. This is roughly equivalent to the annual delivery of the A canal.

Pumps

There are 28 pumping stations in the Klamath Project. These pumps have a total output of over 1937 ft³/s (55 m³/s).

Water management

As opposed to the government-owned irrigation dams of the Klamath Project on upper tributaries, the seven dams of the

are operated by for-profit energy company

. The systems share one facility, the

, which is owned by the

but operated by PacifiCorp primarily to regulate its own downstream water supply, and secondarily for power generation. Controversies over water management since 2001 have involved the entire river. That year, a court order withheld irrigation water from Klamath Project farmers, to comply with mandated river levels for the threatened

Coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species n ...

and the endangered Lost River Sucker. Downstream populations of Coho salmon are within the Southern Oregon/Northern California

Evolutionary Significant Unit An evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) is a population of organisms that is considered distinct for purposes of conservation. Delineating ESUs is important when considering conservation action. This term can apply to any species, subspecies, ...

and are listed as threatened (2011). The 2010 Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) is a multi-party legal agreement determining river usage and water rights involving the Klamath River, the Klamath Project, and the Klamath Basin, within the states of California and Oregon. Among the more notable signatories to the agreement were the Governors of California and Oregon, and the Chairman of the

Klamath Tribes The Klamath Tribes, formerly the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon, are a federally recognized Native American Nation consisting of three Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited Southern Oregon and Northern California in the United Sta ...

. ;Goals The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement aims to: * assist restoration of

Riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ...

s along many of the rivers in the

* remove four downstream hydro power dams on the Klamath River operated by

by 2020, with the goal of salmon restoration * provide irrigation water assurances for Klamath Basin farmers * provide the Klamath Tribes with the 90,000 acre Mazama Tree Farm

References

External links

United States Bureau of ReclamationKlamath Waters Digital Library
*

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HAER) documentation, filed under Klamath Falls, Klamath County, OR: ** ** {{Klamath River Klamath River Interbasin transfer United States Bureau of Reclamation Water in Oregon Water in California Klamath County, Oregon Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon History of Modoc County, California History of Siskiyou County, California Hydroelectric power plants in Oregon Klamath Mountains Geography of Klamath County, Oregon Geography of Modoc County, California Geography of Siskiyou County, California