Officials preach conservation

Monday, March 7, 2005 9:30 AM PST

Published March 6, 2005

By DYLAN DARLING

Wary federal officials sent out a call Friday for conservation among Klamath Reclamation Project water users.

"As of March 2, we are experiencing extremely dry conditions," said a letter addressed to water users and irrigation districts from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. "Drought conditions have existed for several years and this year appears to be even drier. The need for extreme caution is obvious."

Project Manager Dave Sabo signed the letter sent out to 380 Project irrigation districts and individual water users.

"It will be dry," he said in telephone interview. "The forecast is for an extremely dry year."

Earlier this week, federal forecasters predicted that Upper Klamath Lake, the Project's main source of water, will get 52 percent of average flows between April and September. The irrigation season in the Klamath Basin runs from the start of April to mid-October.

The low inflow predictions are staring to look similar to those of 2001, when officials didn't put water through Project canals at the start of the irrigation season. Because of changes in management plans, Bureau officials say, there shouldn't be a curtailment this year, but there could be some tense times.

Sabo said things will get tough in June, when demand is at its highest and streamflow into the lake usually trails out. If the water supply gets short, he said, officials will have to squeeze the amount of water put through the Project.

To brace for the potential water shortage, the Bureau to asking water users to start preparation for the growing season with a strong consideration for conservation.

"We don't want to get ourselves into a real shortage situation," Sabo said. "We want to think early on about being conservative."

The letter reads:

"We encourage each district to investigate water waste and take appropriate corrective action. Irrigators are also strongly encouraged to evaluate and reorganize on-farm uses with the goal of reducing demand on the system."

Advice on how to conserve can be found at the Natural Resources Conservation Service, county agricultural agents and extension offices, conservation districts and irrigation equipment dealers, according to the letter.

Meanwhile, the Bureau is still getting its "water bank" in order. In the water bank, the federal government pays water users to reduce or supplement their use of Project water. The program, designed to boost flows down the Klamath River for threatened coho salmon, is in its third year.

In all, the Bureau needs to have a bank of 100,000 acre-feet of water this year. Officials plan to get 50,000 acre-feet from land idling, 35,000 acre-feet from paying farmers to use well water and 15,000 acre-feet from wildlife refuges.

Although officials said they got enough response for land idling from an initial request in late December, they put out a second call in mid-February. Officials said the second request was to open up the option for those who hadn't applied earlier but could be interested of the grimmer streamflow forecasts and to give those who applied a chance to tweak their bids.

To get to its 50,000 acre-foot goal, the Bureau needs to idle about 25,000 acres. Originally, it got 234 applications, representing 40,423 acres. The second call brought in 30 more bids, adding 1,900 acres, said Gary Baker, special project manager for the Bureau.

Twenty people lowered their initial bids while 13 raised theirs, he said.

Along with the second go-round for land idling, the Bureau requested applications from those interested in signing up for either of the well water programs. The request brought in 40 bids, that would produce about 18,000 acre-feet. Baker said the Bureau will also use some contracts with larger pumping groups to bring the totals from the well water programs to the 35,000 acre-foot goal.

There should be enough contracts in line to fill the water bank, Baker said. "It looks like we got plenty of offerings," he said.

That will be the case if there is enough water in the lake.

Sabo said the water bank reduces the size of the Project to add flows to the river, but it doesn't soften the blow to water users if nature doesn't provide streamflow.

On the Net: www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao