The farmer acknowledged there was a benefit — he didn’t have to hire and pay as many workers as he usu ally does. But idling half his land also prevented him from   taking full advantage of good commodity prices this season.

   “You’re still sitting there with a lot of your overhead and you’re missing out on a lot of money you could have made,” Unruh said.

   His hopes for next season are dim.

   While abundant snow and rain in recent weeks is welcome, it won’t matter if water is   released from Upper Klamath Lake by the Bureau of Reclamation throughout the winter as it was last year, he said.  

   Federal authorities waited until nearly the last moment to say how much water would be available to irrigators, Unruh said.

   “We’re still status quo at best,” he said. “Everything I’ve been hearing is it’s going to be wait and see, and that’s scary.”

   Not only would the status quo impact lake levels and irrigation water, it likely will impact the region’s water supply more than it did this year, he said.