May 8, 2001

Welcome

Reed Marbut welcomed everyone and went over the meeting Agenda.

Paul Cleary discussed testimony that was presented to the Senate Rules and Redistricting Committee on May 1, 2001. A copy of the testimony was on hand for those interested in obtaining a copy.

Paul said that the Department has received 29 drought applications and 11 applications for limited licenses. Salem water right and groundwater staff will be in Klamath Falls once or twice a week. The five-year groundwater permits in the Bonanza area will be an extended to December 31, 2003. Lastly, the Department can rebate the drought permit fees.

Earl Miller asked what the chances were of getting certificates issued in the Lost River Adjudication where the legal descriptions are correct. Reed Marbut said that due to legal issues, it is not possible for the Department to issue those certificates at this time.

Reed said he contacted the Dividing-the-Waters and explained that the negotiation session was on hold due to the current water emergency in the Basin.

Steve West, County Commissioner, commented on the bucket brigade which was held the previous day. He thought there were somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 in attendance. People were well behaved and didn't leave a mess. Steve also discussed the "Drought Fair" that is to be held on May 18 and 19, 2001, at the Klamath County Fairgrounds.

Drought Information Update

Rob Allerman, USBOR, gave a brief description of the current conditions in the Basin. He said that snow and precipitation amounts for the entire water year have been far below average. The streamflow forecasts from NRCS continue to show near record low inflow amounts for the April through September period. The current inflow conditions are similar to those in 1992.

Currently, the Pacific Northwest is experiencing the worst drought since 1977. The snow in the entire Klamath Basin melted out between one and two months early. This relates to very low inflow amounts for the May through September period. The April through September forecast is currently at the 1992 level.

Drought Ground Water Development Report - Oregon

Fred Lissner, Ground Water Manager, said that ground water staff are doing a study in the Langell Valley, Poe Valley and the Lower Lost River areas. The study looks at the ground water resource and attempts to determine where and how much ground water can be pumped from the area without having an adverse impact on existing wells and surface water resources in the vicinity.

Fred said that there is another groundwater study being done in the Malin area (Shasta View Irrigation District). The study is to determine if ground water is an adequate alternative source of water to surface water in the area. A long-term pump test is going on this summer that will evaluate whether or not the ground water resource can tolerate significant usage.

A cooperative study is also being done in entire Klamath Basin with the U.S. Geological Survey. They are looking at how much water can be taken from that system without doing unacceptable harm to ground water users and to surface water resources. This is long-term study that is not scheduled to be finished until 2005.

Drought Ground Water Development Report - California

Dwight Russell, California Department of Water Resources (CDWR), explained that on May 4, Governor Davis issued a drought emergency proclamation for Modoc and Siskiyou Counties in California. With that, the Governor was able to assign $5 million from his Office of Emergency Services for disaster assistance. The $5 million is to be used to drill wells to develop ground water for use on cover crops to prevent soil erosion. Dwight Russell said that starting in July, they hope that the Governor will sign a budget that includes an additional $2 million. Of that $2 million, $1 million would go to fund pumps, pipe and other equipment to put the groundwater into the districts distribution systems. The remaining $1 million would be set aside to help secure a long-term water supply.

Steve West asked how the well drilling funding would be distributed. (Is Emergency Services funding directly or rebating back to the irrigators after the wells are developed?) Rocky said the program is 100% funded by the State of California. It is a cost program. The state pays the district for their expenses. This is through the California Natural Disaster Assistance Act. There is no federal money involved in this program.

Noel Eaves, CDWR, discussed ground water development in California.

For the past several weeks, Noel has been gathering information about the drilling program. They going to try to get drill rigs in the basin as soon as possible and develop some emergency supplies and develop a plan to develop ground water the best they can. They plan to work very closely with the U.S. Geological Survey and other ground water technical experts. Noel said there is a link to their water level web site on the Oregon Water Resources Department web page.

Paul Cleary said that if there are drillers in California that want to drill in Oregon, the Oregon Water Resources would come to Klamath Falls to give the required test and issue licenses to qualified individuals. Noel said that he talked to someone from Modoc County's Environmental Health to find out how many permits had been issued. Currently, there are 25-30 permits applications submitted, with 18-19 completed.

Fred Lissner spoke regarding the Shasta View Project. He said that the project is a testing phase of what will ultimately become a permanent ground water supply for the irrigation district. If those go well, another 13-14 wells would be developed and supply the district with ground water rather than relying on surface water. At some point in the future, the well system would be used as a supplemental supply.

Ultimately, the intention is to supply the Shasta View Irrigation District with about 14 wells, each being able to supply approximately 2000 gpm for their on-going long-term water supply needs.

In the Bonanza area, there are a couple of problems that the Department is trying to deal with. One is the interference with surface water resources. Another issue is when ground water levels drop, and the spring stops flowing, Lost River water has an opportunity to inundate the spring orifices, and the water in the Lost River can percolate down into the aquifer. This occurred back in the early 90's when there were dry conditions in the Basin. As a result of this, half the wells in the town of Bonanza were contaminated. Fred said that it needs to be determined how to manage the production of the ground water resource in a way that prevents unacceptable impacts. The southern part of Langell Valley has had some springs that have begun to diminish in yield as a result of ground water problems.

Steve West asked if anyone has looked at having the clear water from the aquifer used for instream flows and use the water from the lake for irrigation. Karl Wirkus said that was part of the Phase II process. Fred Lissner said that there is a certain amount of water available in the Basin. Some is ground water and some is surface water. If you take the ground water resource out and begin pumping it, your almost certainly going to have an impact on the surface water resource at some point.

Jim Carpenter said that one of the big resources is the springs up at the other end of the Lake. Is someone paying attention to them. Fred said yes. It is being looked at as part the overall U.S. Geological Survey Study of the Basin.

Someone asked if there were any studies done on the Aspen Lake Basin as a potential source. Fred said, not specifically in that area. Four areas have been looked at in some detail. Those are the Langell Valley area, Ady Irrigation District, Shasta View Irrigation District, and Fort Klamath area. These areas have been looked at as possible places to develop ground water in lieu of using surface water. After looking into these areas, the best possible location was Shasta View Irrigation District.

Someone asked how the experiment at Shasta View is funded. Fred said that it is being funded by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Project Operation Update

Jim Bryant, BOR, said the 2001 Operating Plan takes about 70,000 acre-feet of water out of Clear Lake, Gerber Reservoir for use in Horsefly and Langell Valley Irrigation Districts and for deliveries to the Tulelake Sump. Currently, there are 25 cfs going over Wilson Dam down to Tulelake. There is about 20 cfs going into Tulelake.

Jim said they are in the process of entering into some contracts with various individuals for groundwater. There is a concern that later on in the summer, there may not be a guarantee that the water will still be available. Jim said that two months ago, they set out to buy well water to supplement the system. Bids were submitted. The BOR purchased with the potential of getting 30,000 acre-feet of water out of the Basin. Since then, people have decided that maybe they want to keep the wells themselves and maybe sell to family and friends instead of BOR. As a result of this, there may be some extra money so they can buy some more.

Jim brought some applications for anyone interested.

Ed Bartell asked if the BOR is buying for a season or a certain amount of cfs. Jim said it is by acre-feet. Ed asked if there is a gage to measure this. Jim said they require a meter on the pump.

Steve Kandra said that the state has the responsibility to see if the water gets to the diversion and what is the state doing to make sure that the Bureau's intent is being facilitated. Paul Cleary said that the limited licenses that are used for flow augmentation through Oregon, and are treated as if they are coming from a different source. In other words, they are not hydraulically connected to the river. Paul feels they can be shepherded to the state line. Beyond the state line, it is out of Oregon's control.

Steve Kandra asked what the water is being used for in relation to project acquisition in the ground water. Is the water to be used for agricultural purposes or Project water? Jim Bryant said it is Project water. In the case of the wells in California, the only practical place to put those wells is in the TID system for irrigation.

Paul Cleary said the key is going to be the cooperation of the districts and individual irrigators.

Jim Ottoman asked if there are any specific measurements of evaporation. Jim Bryant said the evaporation rates over a span of a year, are consistent.

Jim Bryant said that approximately 30,000 acre-feet has been set aside to maintain the biological opinion minimum elevation in the Tulelake Sump.

Karl Wirkus thanked the community and the leadership of the community for their decorum during these tough times. He said he would be meeting with his regional director and states of Oregon and California to map a strategy for short and long terms. He said they are exploring to see if there is any additional funding within the BOR budget that could be brought in. There is competition for funding.

Steve West said that the BOR and the Water Resources Department deserve credit for some things they are doing. The BOR has entered into a contract with the Water Resources Department with a long-term drought plan for the Klamath Basin, Klamath County.

Water Conservation and Efficiency Discussion

Marshall English, OSU, gave an overhead presentation that was part of a workshop that was put together and that he has been putting on around the state. He presented Part 1 and 5 of his workshop and presented it to the ADR group. Part 1 is an overview of irrigation management and Part 5 looks at optimum irrigation management. His presentation deals with the whole state and therefore has information that does not pertain specifically to the Klamath Basin. It serves as a basis for discussion.

Marshall started his presentation with three basic ideas relating to irrigation management. This is more from the farm perspective.

• Irrigation management is a very uncertain business.
• Errors in irrigation management
• Tools available that can be useful in helping irrigation managers

From a broader perspective

• Improved irrigation management is not going to increase the supply of water
• It will change the time when water is available
• It will change the water quality

Six points to consider

• Most important determinant of efficiency in irrigation is management
• Tools available for determining how much water to apply and when to apply it
• Improved irrigation management will generally increase farm profits
• Sophisticated technology available to help with decision-making.
• To improve irrigation, management will not make more water available
• Water Quality

Ed Bartell noted that there was a study done by OSU, where in the Klamath Basin, that shows the opposite results.

Marshall continued on with the next part of his presentation (Hermiston area).

• Define conventional irrigation (reduce crop stress/maximize yield)
• Corresponding definition - Soil and water should be maintained above the level in which crops are stressed
• Avoid crop stress in order to achieve full production potential - maximize yield
• Maximizing some return - profit
• Optimization in general - irrigation is going to apply using less water than would for full irrigation
• Full maximum yield isn't necessarily the most profitable

Marshall said he would really like to come back and give a full scale workshop on irrigation scheduling.

Steve Kandra said he appreciated Marshall presentation. He said the local extension service puts on a workshop once a year. He said he felt that this presentation is more for people that are in non-production mode. He said that now that people know who Marshall is and where he is from, they may have him come back for one of the commodity groups and go through his presentation.

Marshall said that can access information on the OSU website. www.osu.bioresourceengineering.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.