Wednesday April 13, 2005
Klamath
Falls Herald and News
By DYLAN DARLING
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Canals in the Klamath Irrigation District are brimming
with water, and customers should soon be ready to start irrigating, a district
official said.
"We hope to be pretty close by the end of this week," said Dave
Solem, district manager.
Although he expects water to keep running through the
canals all growing season, which lasts until mid October, Solem said the
district may see a record low for the total volume of water delivered.
That's because the Bureau of Reclamation has ratcheted down the demand on the
Klamath Reclamation Project through its water bank program, and Bureau
officials have asked for a 15 percent reduction of water use by irrigators in
and near the Project.
He said district officials are still gauging how the Bureau's request will
change things, and how the irrigation season will go.
Since the A Canal headgates were opened on April 1,
workers have been spreading water through the 200 miles of canals. As of
Tuesday, 250 cubic feet of water per second were passing through the A Canal,
Solem said. That's about one-fourth of the canal's capacity.
District customers will be able to start ordering water Thursday, he said.
So far, there has been one break on a lateral ditch near Merrill.
"Those things are somewhat to be expected," Solem said.
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