JASON CHAPMAN, cattle rancher, Poe Valley 

‘The groundwater needs time to replenish. We will not be able to idle land (again) like we did this year’

   The Klamath Basin cattle rancher has endured this year’s water shortage without losses, able to graze his 600 calves and cattle like any other year.

   But he knows not everyone in the cattle business escaped damage.

   The sheer quantity of land being idled this year meant less land was available for grazing. Just below his Poe Valley ranch, acres of grassland sit yellow and dry, idled due to shortage of irrigation water.

   Chapman said he learned to be more conservative with his water use after irrigation water was shut off in 2001. The lessons learned nine years ago are still with him, and he takes every precaution to ensure water isn’t wasted.  

   “Every year since 2001, we’ve done more and more efficiency work on the ranch to improve water use,” he said.

   In April, Chapman said, he was expecting a water shutoff around mid-September, a full month ahead of the normal shutoff date. Now he believes the resources are in place to come close to a full year.

   “As long as everybody’s still using the water wisely, we should be able to   stretch out the water supply at least to the first of October,” he said.

   Chapman has concerns about the level of groundwater and what impact a shortage would have on it if the   drought continues into next year.

   “The groundwater needs time to replenish,” he said. “We will not be able to idle land like we did this year” if resources are again scarce in 2011.  

Programs help Basin farmers, ranchers   

By Ty Beaver

   Hollie Cannon said the 2010 irrigation season didn’t turn out as badly as predicted in April and May.

   The executive director of the Klamath Water and Power Agency said irrigators took proactive steps to avoid catastrophe this year, from adjusting what they grew to taking part in programs, such as groundwater pumping and land idling.

   “This year has been dramatically different than it would have been in 2001,” Cannon said.

   But, he added, there are still a number of challenges facing agriculture in the Klamath Basin.

   Some irrigators, such as those growing potatoes, are facing a lessthan-optimal crop due to a number of factors, including poor soil and cold weather.

   Those who signed up for government funding to help pay for groundwater pumping have struggled to get the money in a timely enough fashion to pay their power bills. And there are those who weren’t able to get water early enough in the season or sign up for any of the various programs designed to help irrigators.

   “They’re taking it on the chin,” Cannon said.

   The prospect of surviving a similar water shortage next year is slim, he said. Groundwater was used to irrigate 70,000 acres this season. Without time to recharge, likely less than half that amount could be used next year, Cannon said.

   “The situation will be a lot different.”