The Klamath Drainage District (KDD) is recommending its landowners evaluate their farm plans to consider idling acres, and to sign up for programs offered by the Klamath Project Drought Response Agency (KPDRA).
With lackluster snowpack in the Cascades Mountains and the Bureau of Reclamation allocating only 221,000 acre-feet of water to the Klamath Irrigation Project, KDD hopes for about 10,000 acres to be idled.
During a mid-April KDD board meeting, Klamath Water Users Association Executive Director Elizabeth Nielsen estimated that about 40,000-50,000 acres will need to be idled in the Klamath Project.
“The sooner acres are signed up the sooner the managers can figure out how to make the limited supplies work,” said Scotty Fenters, KDD board supervisor and KPDRA committee member.
