Adjudicating Water

Upper Basin to feel greatest impact 

Pumps may be shut off during low water years   

   Even if the final determination is only a shadow of the proposed order, irrigation in the Upper Basin would change dramatically: those irrigators will face limitations akin to those Klamath Reclamation Project irrigators have been grappling with for years.

   The Tribes, with their beginning-of-time priority date, could call their water rights to keep the minimum water flows a judge agreed are necessary to maintain their fish and wildlife habitats.

   To achieve flows, pumps feeding junior water rights are shut down until the senior water right is met.

   Not only that, Oregon Water Resources before the order could not enforce water rights being adjudicated so Upper Basin irrigators with senior water rights could not call their right, leaving junior water right holders the ability to pump freely.

   “Water right holders upstream, because there are very few areas adjudicated up there … have had the ability to divert what they need to satisfy what their right says,” said Tom Paul, deputy director of Oregon Water Resources Department.  

   Larry Dunsmoor, who works on the Sprague River, said unlimited use is evident.

   “In the middle of the summer when it gets hot and everybody starts to irrigate, the river just drops,” he said. “With the proposed order, flows would change that.”  

   More water in streams

   Flows confirmed in adjudication are subject to a slew of variables — water year, habitat, reach of water, etc.

   But in short, the range of f lows in the Tribes’ water right is higher than what has historically remained in the rivers and streams after irrigation.

   Several contestants contacted by the Herald and News would not comment on adjudication, citing lack of knowledge in the proceedings, including Roger Nicholson, the rancher behind Water For Life Inc., who has long been active in the process.

   In a press release announcing the adjudication decision, the Klamath Tribes said, “Some interests in the Basin advised people that the Tribes’ water rights are minimal, but those interests have been proven wrong. People who followed that advice have obviously been misled in a situation where they are risking a lot.”

   Bill Ganong, an attorney   for irrigation districts involved in adjudication, agreed, saying there’s no doubt the confirmed f lows will affect irrigators upstream of Upper Klamath Lake.

   The farther upstream they are, the less water they’ll have if the Tribes call their water right.

   “… It is clear,” Ganong said, “that for some stream segments, especially in the Sprague River drainage, the enforcement of Tribal rights in the amounts provided in the proposed orders would have a profound impact on the use of surface water for irrigation.”