State: Groundwater access not unlimited  

March 19, 2010

   Oregon Water Resources Department officials met with members of Klamath Water Users Association and Klamath Water and Power Agency Thursday to discuss use of groundwater for irrigation.  

   State officials said they would make available as many resources as possible to the region, but said there were limits to what new groundwater wells could provide, especially since groundwater levels are still recovering from intense pumping in 2001.

   “If we hit this groundwater resource too hard and you get turned off, that’s it,” said Oregon Water Resources official Doug Woodcock. “You’re off. There is no backup supply.”

   Irrigators want to tap into the region’s groundwater supply to make up for the loss of water provided to the Klamath Reclamation Project from Upper Klamath Lake because of   drought.

   A drought declaration signed by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski Wednesday allows state water officials to streamline the process for granting permits for groundwater wells.  

   But that doesn’t mean the state won’t regulate the permits and check their impact, Woodcock said.

   Flow to lake

   He pointed to studies that show groundwater provides 75 percent to 80 percent of the water flowing into Upper Klamath Lake. As a result, officials would need to monitor springs to make sure stream flows don’t decline or other wells suffer.

   Some areas may not be able to have additional wells. State officials said more wells likely won’t be allowed in an area around Bonanza to protect the Lost River from back flowing into springs in the area.  

   Hollie Cannon, Klamath Water and Power Agency executive director, asked about the likelihood of pulling as much as 130,000 acre-feet to 150,000 acre-feet out of wells to supplement irrigation. Officials said that was possible, but would have long-term consequences.

   “One hundred fifty thousand is a very large number,” Woodcock said.

   In 2001

   Groundwater pumping during the 2001 crisis led to water levels falling between 15 to 18 feet throughout the Basin. Those levels have recovered in some areas but are still extremely low close to the Oregon-California border.

   “If you hit it real hard again, you’re going to knock a hole in it,” Woodcock said.